The Difficulties of Teaching Yourself

[Streetscape]

Please excuse what I'm sure will be a wordy post, I'm not sure what I am looking to get from this but eager to hear what others have to say.

 

For background, played golf when I was a kid with my mom, never regularly. Picked it back up during COVID, so been playing seriously for about 2.5 years. It took about 3 rounds to really get me hooked again, and have been obsessed with improving. However, I have hardly improved at all. I broke 100 in ~8 months, shot my current PB of 90 2 weeks later. I felt like I was quickly on the way to breaking 90 and beyond. For the next 6 months I shot between 93-110, I was happy to see a general trend downward. I had a couple lessons, but I felt that I could teach myself because that's how I have learned almost everything else, from building cars to electronics. However, that streak came to an end, and for the past 4 months I haven't broken 110, have lost a significant amount of speed (went from cruising a 90mph 7i speed to maybe 83), and just lost all confidence holding a club. I have watched youtube videos, read what makes a golf swing, and just generally tried to just absorb as much info as possible. I feel like I know what my faults are. I feel like I know the fixes. But I just can't put it into practice. My golf game has devolved into not knowing what will happen every single shot. Even my short game, which I feel is my greatest strength(since my tee and approach shots have never been good), has suffered. I could fat, thin, shank, or top the ball at any given moment. Presently, I know I have dived down the technical rabbit hole to the point that I can't not have countless thoughts before I swing and it never turns out well. I have gone to the range to try and clear my head and just swing and use feel, and although I see an improvement for the next few days, everything I try goes out the window and I am back to square one. It's honestly infuriating. I was ready to quit honestly, when while telling her this my wife helped me realize the other day that this has been the only thing that it seems I won't be able to teach myself, and my stubbornness is probably holding me back. Yet I see many users here who have never had a lesson and are in the single digits. I am not opposed to lessons, although the thought of possibly wasting hundreds of dollars to go through who knows how many instructors to find the right one obviously doesn't sound very appealing. So, fellow WRXers, before I embark on the journey of finding said instructor, I would love to hear others self taught journeys. Maybe I am missing something.

 

TL;DR I thought I could teach myself and now I've dug all the way to China looking for the answer to my swing problems. Do I resign myself to lessons or is self teaching still a viable option for me?

[Krt22]

12 minutes ago, Streetscape said:

 

 

TL;DR I thought I could teach myself and now I've dug all the way to China looking for the answer to my swing problems. Do I resign myself to lessons or is self teaching still a viable option for me?

 

You say this like getting lessons is something negative.  Would you rather spend years and countless dollars playing poor to slightly less poor golf or would you rather invest in your game and play better golf faster? 

 

Realistically most self taught golfers are Ruthie Langmore from the Ozarks when it comes to improving, they don't know ___ about ___.

 

[Pepperturbo]

I am self-taught, only used 3 golf instructional books.  It doesn't sound as though when you decided to self-teach, you had anything to guide your progress.  Self-teaching without fundamental guidance is a recipe for failure.  You're operating on your own knowledge, which is zilch.  LOL, like homeschooling kids without books, using your knowledge.

 

I took up golf at 40, never touched a club, invited to play by buddies from college that played college golf.  I bought Ping clubs off the shelf and shot 94 from the White 6400+ tees.  From that day forward, I bought 3 books and, based on their content, set up a daily practice regime.  For the next five years, I follow that regime almost to a letter.  About a year in, I took a basic golf class to insure fundamentals were spot on.  In under 4yrs reached 8 index, 2 yrs later 2 index, around work.

 

Nothing wrong with self-teaching, as long as you know, it's NOT going to be easier than taking classes; only more convenient presuming you know how to teach yourself.

Edited February 7, 2023 by Pepperturbo

[Streetscape]

9 minutes ago, Krt22 said:

 

You say this like getting lessons is something negative.  Would you rather spend years and countless dollars playing poor to slightly less poor golf or would you rather invest in your game and play better golf faster? 

 

Realistically most self taught golfers are Ruthie Langmore from the Ozarks when it comes to improving, they don't know ___ about ___.

 

Re reading my word salad, it definitely sounds like it... I am fine with lessons, I think I am more frustrated that with all the available resources, this is the one thing I haven't been able to improve by myself on. I think my expectations are just too high for myself because I usually pick things up quickly. But those are usually very technical things. I noticed that when I am golfing, being technical just doesn't work for me, so I am lost on what/where to look for guidance.

[Streetscape]

10 minutes ago, Pepperturbo said:

I am self-taught, only used 3 golf instructional books.  It doesn't sound as though when you decided to self-teach, you had anything to guide your progress.  Self-teaching without fundamental guidance is a recipe for failure.  You're operating on your own knowledge, which is zilch.  LOL, like homeschooling kids without books, using your knowledge.

 

I took up golf at 40, never touched a club, invited to play by buddies from college that played college golf.  I bought Ping clubs off the shelf and shot 94 from the White 6400+ tees.  From that day forward, I bought 3 books and, based on their content, set up a daily practice regime.  For the next five years, I follow that regime almost to a letter.  About a year in, I took a basic golf class to insure fundamentals were spot on.  In under 4yrs reached 8 index, 2 yrs later 2 index, around work.

 

Nothing wrong with self-teaching, as long as you know, it's NOT going to be easier than taking classes; only more convenient presuming you know how to teach yourself.

Thanks for replying pepper, I have seen your posts quite a bit and was hoping you would chime in here. you're homeschooling analogy makes a lot of sense. I think that so far I have been so focused on absorbing things about golf that I haven't organized into something actually useful. I am not expecting it to be easier necessarily, but as said above, it is frustrating that with all the resources I haven't seen what I would generally consider as improvement. What books did you use?

[rd1959]

I started playing in the early 70s, picked up certain tips from watching golf on TV. I've never taken any formal lessons. I just try to eliminate ANY tension from my swing. 

[naj959]

Save yourself years of frustration and find a quality instructor. The vast majority of us are not competent enough to self diagnose; especially as a raw beginner. If you're on the verge of quitting then being self taught isn't working. Find an instructor that tells you what your biggest faults are and develop a game plan for attacking those deficiencies. Keep in mind, the road to improvement is a marathon not a sprint. 

[PNWGuy]

Self-teaching through YouTube videos is a fool's errand for a couple of reasons:
1.    There are tons of videos to choose from.  Some are good, some are garbage and many are contradictory.  
2.    Videos will never diagnose your swing flaws. 
3.    There is no feedback loop to verify you are truly making the right corrections. 
The only way around this is to work with a competent person.  That will most likely be someone who does it for a living.  It requires time, money and lots of perfect practice.  But the feeling you will get when you make lasting improvements is priceless.

[third-times-a-charm]

Golf is stupid.

 

The best in the world wake up some days and just dont have it. No one is immune to the whims of the tiny white ball game.

 

You'll get better; but you have to suck for like 8-10 years first. THEN something will click and only then will you maybe hit 4 out of 5 shots good instead of 2 out of 5. 

 

I wouldnt worry about plateauing too much as it will pass and you'll break through eventually. 

[Krt22]

1 minute ago, Streetscape said:

Re reading my word salad, it definitely sounds like it... I am fine with lessons, I think I am more frustrated that with all the available resources, this is the one thing I haven't been able to improve by myself on. I think my expectations are just too high for myself because I usually pick things up quickly. But those are usually very technical things. I noticed that when I am golfing, being technical just doesn't work for me, so I am lost on what/where to look for guidance.

I am the same way, but golf is a different beast. Understanding the technical side is actually 100% OK IMHO, but understanding and learning how to move better is a much softer science.

 

Think of the golf swing like a relatively involved home DIY project vs hiring a professional. Any decently savvy person with enough time and patience can figure out a lot of these things on their own (especially with the help of youtube). But in many cases the DIY ends up taking way longer, the workmanship isn't as good, there is money wasted on mistakes, and sometimes ultimately needs to be redone. So when you hire that professional, you aren't just paying for their time, you are paying for their experience, their specialty tools, their industry connections and the trade secrets they have acquired mastering their craft . It's more expensive up front, but you get a much better end result (and you get it a lot faster). 

[jomatty]

There is a middle ground.  I take maybe 1 or 2 lessons a year.  My instructor looks my swing over and gives me things to work on, makes me aware of bad habits that might be sneaking in and then sends me on my way armed with some good information.  I’m around a 3 hcp so far from great, but not clueless either.  I find this approach works for me because I enjoy working on my game myself and figuring things out, but don’t want to go down the rabbit hole chasing after the wrong things and making my game worse.  I would definitely find someone to at least take a look at your swing and talk to about what you are working on.  It gives me a lot of confidence that I’m on the right path when my instructor confirms I am working on the right stuff.  Conversely, it saves me a lot of time when he tells me my efforts are misplaced or misguided.

[Streetscape]

Just now, jomatty said:

There is a middle ground.  I take maybe 1 or 2 lessons a year.  My instructor looks my swing over and gives me things to work on, makes me aware of bad habits that might be sneaking in and then sends me on my way armed with some good information.  I’m around a 3 hcp so far from great, but not clueless either.  I find this approach works for me because I enjoy working on my game myself and figuring things out, but don’t want to go down the rabbit hole chasing after the wrong things and making my game worse.  I would definitely find someone to at least take a look at your swing and talk to about what you are working on.  It gives me a lot of confidence that I’m on the right path when my instructor confirms I am working on the right stuff.  Conversely, it saves me a lot of time when he tells me my efforts are misplaced or misguided.

The things I would do to even be close to single digits lol.

 

I think that this is a good approach as well, although I would assume with my skill level I need a lot more than 1 or 2 lessons a year. But it is good hearing that even at your level you have lessons at all. I have seen so many people on here and on the course that just seem to effortlessly shoot better than I and have never had a lesson, which adds to my frustration of not improving as quickly as I'd like. Thanks for chiming in!

[Soloman1]

Look on the bright side. If you were a woman, your 36 handicap husband would be teaching you

 

 

to be a 36 handicap.

[Streetscape]

11 minutes ago, Krt22 said:

I am the same way, but golf is a different beast. Understanding the technical side is actually 100% OK IMHO, but understanding and learning how to move better is a much softer science.

 

Think of the golf swing like a relatively involved home DIY project vs hiring a professional. Any decently savvy person with enough time and patience can figure out a lot of these things on their own (especially with the help of youtube). But in many cases the DIY ends up taking way longer, the workmanship isn't as good, there is money wasted on mistakes, and sometimes ultimately needs to be redone. So when you hire that professional, you aren't just paying for their time, you are paying for their experience, their specialty tools, their industry connections and the trade secrets they have acquired mastering their craft . It's more expensive up front, but you get a much better end result (and you get it a lot faster). 

I understand that for sure. And that is my job essentially as well, I am payed for what I know, not necessarily what I output. I guess what I struggle to understand is how so many have self taught to swing and shoot good (at least what I consider good) scores besides the amount of time they have been playing.

[Streetscape]

1 minute ago, Soloman1 said:

Look on the bright side. If you were a woman, your 36 handicap husband would be teaching you

 

 

to be a 36 handicap.

My wife wants to learn how to play and the first thing I told her was to not do anything I do, and that we will get her an instructor who knows what they are talking about lol

[Pepperturbo]

53 minutes ago, Streetscape said:

Thanks for replying pepper, I have seen your posts quite a bit and was hoping you would chime in here. you're homeschooling analogy makes a lot of sense. I think that so far I have been so focused on absorbing things about golf that I haven't organized into something actually useful. I am not expecting it to be easier necessarily, but as said above, it is frustrating that with all the resources I haven't seen what I would generally consider as improvement. What books did you use?

Maybe you didn't see what you had envisioned because you didn't set up a pre-defined practice regime and follow it precisely over an extended period as I did, nearly 4yrs, and total of 6yrs to get to 2 index.  Each days regime was 3–4 hours, wedge about 5hrs, and played an executive courses 1–2 times a week, to see result and tweak in real time.

 

Most people have nothing concrete to work from, so their practice is what ever comes to mind.  They don't write down a real plan, similar to a teacher writing an educational plan.

 

I used "A Swing For Life" by Faldo, "Natural Golf" by Seve and "Five Lessons" by Hogan.  Each has crossover content, but from different perspectives.  After reading each, I formulated my regime, using Faldo and Hogans for the most part and Seve's for short game, etc.

 

FYI: I've written Industry books, Business Plans, and training manuals, all with Editor oversight, so outlining diverse book information aligned with creating a regime was reasonably easy.

Edited February 7, 2023 by Pepperturbo

[Krt22]

1 minute ago, Streetscape said:

I understand that for sure. And that is my job essentially as well, I am payed for what I know, not necessarily what I output. I guess what I struggle to understand is how so many have self taught to swing and shoot good (at least what I consider good) scores besides the amount of time they have been playing.

You only hear the handful of very vocal "good" golfers telling their story. I assure you the ratio good to bad self taught golfers is heavily heavily biased towards the bad side. I get it though, it's an ego thing. If this chap could do it, why can't I? Now you can still be very involved in the progress, you ultimately are the one who has to put in the work, but a little professional help can go a long way in least make sure you are working on the right things

[jordan2240]

You noted you had a couple lessons, so I'm wondering if you are using what you were taught.  I'm far from a good golfer, generally ranging in score from mid-80s to mid-90s, but I don't usually even keep score, so that's just kind of guessing based on how I think I'm doing.  For me, I usually just worry about each hole individually, and know whether I'm getting pars, bogeys, or worse on most.  I also play with just 7 clubs (and that includes the putter), which has taken a lot of the decision-making out of the game.  But I'm also 62 and figure I've pretty much got my game where it's going to be and have stopped chasing improvement.  I also walk pretty much every round, so get some benefit from the game even if I stink.  Oh, and I never took any lessons.

 

The first thing you should likely do is ask yourself what you want from the game.  It's definitely more fun when you aren't worm-burning or shanking the majority of shots, but I play with some guys who do that, and they are still out having a good time (mostly) - but they're even geezerier than I am.  I've played with some people who had some regular lessons, and you'd have never known it.  So maybe lessons will help, and maybe they won't.  Perhaps the best thing to do is give them a try for a few months then just try to get out and play.  Problem is, if you are at a stage in your life where you can't play much, lessons might not be very useful.  When I was younger and a working parent, I was lucky to get out a few times a year, with golfing being completely absent in a good number of them.

 

So I don't know what kind of advice I gave you, but take whatever I said for what it's worth.

[betarhoalphadelta]

53 minutes ago, Streetscape said:

Re reading my word salad, it definitely sounds like it... I am fine with lessons, I think I am more frustrated that with all the available resources, this is the one thing I haven't been able to improve by myself on. I think my expectations are just too high for myself because I usually pick things up quickly. But those are usually very technical things. I noticed that when I am golfing, being technical just doesn't work for me, so I am lost on what/where to look for guidance.

 

Sounds like we might be somewhat similar. I'm an engineer, and when I'm delving into things outside my wheelhouse (homebrewing, cooking, wrenching on my Jeep, and trying to figure out baking bread) I am basically self-taught via the ability to absorb the RIGHT things from the vast resources on the internet. 

 

But with certain things, it just takes practice. And it takes the RIGHT kind of practice, i.e. focusing on improving ONE thing before working on 12 different others. Homebrewing is a good example. It's VERY process-oriented, so if you're trying to change twelve different things from one batch to the next, you're never going to figure out what is causing your results to be what they are. And if you're sitting there with terrible process and you're trying to make a bourbon-oak aged imperial stout with raisins and cacao, well, the result is gonna be a mess. What you need to do is identify the key aspects of process that you need to perfect, and the closer and closer you get by narrowing down the weak points, the better and better the results become. With each iteration, you get closer and closer to ideal.  

 

Golf takes all of that, and adds on physical demands such as athleticism, hand-eye coordination, proprioception, etc. Homebrewing takes none of that lol. What gets many golfers in a problem (IMHO) is that they're self-diagnosing their faults (often badly) and trying to apply fixes from Youtube without actually a) knowing if those fixes are applicable to their faults and b) giving enough dedicated practice time to ingrain a change. So they flip from one "thing" to another, never even being able to learn the last tip they tried to integrate, and constantly chasing the unattainable because they don't give anything enough time to stick. Hopefully you've at least been using video on the range, but if you haven't, you're relying on your brain and your body to tell you what movements you're actually doing, and they're dirty, filthy, liars. 

 

For golf, the answer is:

 

1. Start with the easy stuff. Grip. Address position. Alignment. You may think you have those things correct, but if you're self-taught, you might not. BTW these are things that posting a video here can help with. Heck, @MonteScheinblum who has a lot of excellent paid content on his web site has free videos on these subjects.  
2. Start with VERY basic mechanics. Again, you may think you have those things correct, but if you're self-taught, you might not. When I look at the high handicap players I regularly play with, MANY of them don't swing on an inclined plane--they come completely out of posture on the backswing with a flat (level to the ground) shoulder turn, and have to find their way back down to the ball. Basic things again can be addressed by posting a video here. 
3. Once you have that simple stuff down, accept your ignorance on the rest of it. Stop watching Youtube. Stop tinkering. Stop all of that. You already know it's not working. Accept it. 
4. See a professional. Get a lesson. From that lesson, get *one* thing to work on. Work on that regularly for a month, maybe two months, maybe longer depending on how much time you have to practice. If you build a relationship with the instructor where future lessons are expected, check in with the instructor with video to make sure you're *actually* doing what they tell you.  
5. Repeat step 4. 
6. If you repeat step 4 enough times, eventually you'll be making great beer arrive at a pretty functional swing. 

The good news for people like us is that we live in a golf Mecca, and can practice/play year round. So there will be no shortage of quality pros in your area, including Monte if you're willing to travel a little bit north beyond the Orange Curtain. 

 

[dfeldss]

Gotta limit the amount of people you get your info from imo to 2 or 3. Your Montes and/or AMGs of the world. Make sure your resources are somewhat aligned in what they teach

 

And you gotta record your swing consistently so you can actually figure out what you're doing/not doing and track your progress. Practice with a purpose

 

Or just get lessons

Edited February 7, 2023 by dfeldss

[betarhoalphadelta]

1 minute ago, dfeldss said:

 

And you gotta record your swing consistently so you can actually figure out what you're doing/not doing and track your progress. Practice with a purpose

 

Or just get lessons

 

IMHO this isn't either/or. Get lessons, and then practice with a purpose while recording your swing to make sure you're actually doing what you were taught to do in your lessons. 

 

(BTW not trying to contradict you with this post--I'm fairly sure you agree with me. But clarifying for the OP that it's not either/or.)

[getitdaily]

I taught myself when I first started playing...at 12ish. I did it by 2atching better players and playing ALL THE TIME. I was at the course from sun up to sun down all.summer. I had a shag bag and would hit balls.on the range after the last pick until my parents picked me up. I literally dug it out of the dirt. Pointers here and there from folks. My 1st lesson wasn't until I was in my 20s. I consistently broke 80 after about age 15. That was before cameras were used almost at all. 

 

In today's age, you can easily get to a high level of play on your own if you put in a ton of time.

[Z1ggy16]

A great coach can point you in the right direction in 1 hour. How long is it going to take you to figure out the same thing?? 2 years? More? 

 

It's worth spending the money for a highly regarded coach. You could spend 5 hours a year with a coach who really knows his stuff or you can spend dozens and dozens yourself, probably getting worse.

[pitchnputt]

1 hour ago, Streetscape said:

The things I would do to even be close to single digits lol.

 

I think that this is a good approach as well, although I would assume with my skill level I need a lot more than 1 or 2 lessons a year. But it is good hearing that even at your level you have lessons at all. I have seen so many people on here and on the course that just seem to effortlessly shoot better than I and have never had a lesson, which adds to my frustration of not improving as quickly as I'd like. Thanks for chiming in!

Man, you are in the exact same spot as me with regard to background and current game! Looks like you are local to me as well. Stadium Golf Center seems like the best place for lessons and they have a lot of instructors, so I am going to wander over next week and try to figure out who has the right temperament for trying to unfunk my game. Where do you usually play?

[betarhoalphadelta]

34 minutes ago, getitdaily said:

I taught myself when I first started playing...at 12ish. I did it by 2atching better players and playing ALL THE TIME. I was at the course from sun up to sun down all.summer. I had a shag bag and would hit balls.on the range after the last pick until my parents picked me up. I literally dug it out of the dirt. Pointers here and there from folks. My 1st lesson wasn't until I was in my 20s. I consistently broke 80 after about age 15. That was before cameras were used almost at all. 

 

In today's age, you can easily get to a high level of play on your own if you put in a ton of time.

 

Per the bold, it was also before YouTube. 

 

If you had YouTube, you may never have broken 100 😉

 

[getitdaily]

16 minutes ago, betarhoalphadelta said:

 

Per the bold, it was also before YouTube. 

 

If you had YouTube, you may never have broken 100 😉

 

Yeah I agree. The amount of conflicting info on YouTube isn't helpful to a newbie. Too much "you must do this"...

[Streetscape]

7 minutes ago, getitdaily said:

Yeah I agree. The amount of conflicting info on YouTube isn't helpful to a newbie. Too much "you must do this"...

I'm definitely not a fan of YouTube instruction, but there are definitely common themes you can see (if they aren't explained) and that's what I have been attempting to take away. But we all see how well that has worked out...

[Nickc]

5 minutes ago, getitdaily said:

Yeah I agree. The amount of conflicting info on YouTube isn't helpful to a newbie. Too much "you must do this"...

While  all golf instructors in person teach the same swing...erm? So to avoid conflicting advice you just need to stick with one and only one instructor!?

Fwiw, although maybe old hat, for teaching yourself I recommend Michael McTeigue "the keys to the effortless golf swing" book + the VHSs that go with this have been loaded onto YouTube.

[Streetscape]

1 hour ago, betarhoalphadelta said:

 

Sounds like we might be somewhat similar. I'm an engineer, and when I'm delving into things outside my wheelhouse (homebrewing, cooking, wrenching on my Jeep, and trying to figure out baking bread) I am basically self-taught via the ability to absorb the RIGHT things from the vast resources on the internet. 

 

But with certain things, it just takes practice. And it takes the RIGHT kind of practice, i.e. focusing on improving ONE thing before working on 12 different others. Homebrewing is a good example. It's VERY process-oriented, so if you're trying to change twelve different things from one batch to the next, you're never going to figure out what is causing your results to be what they are. And if you're sitting there with terrible process and you're trying to make a bourbon-oak aged imperial stout with raisins and cacao, well, the result is gonna be a mess. What you need to do is identify the key aspects of process that you need to perfect, and the closer and closer you get by narrowing down the weak points, the better and better the results become. With each iteration, you get closer and closer to ideal.  

 

Golf takes all of that, and adds on physical demands such as athleticism, hand-eye coordination, proprioception, etc. Homebrewing takes none of that lol. What gets many golfers in a problem (IMHO) is that they're self-diagnosing their faults (often badly) and trying to apply fixes from Youtube without actually a) knowing if those fixes are applicable to their faults and b) giving enough dedicated practice time to ingrain a change. So they flip from one "thing" to another, never even being able to learn the last tip they tried to integrate, and constantly chasing the unattainable because they don't give anything enough time to stick. Hopefully you've at least been using video on the range, but if you haven't, you're relying on your brain and your body to tell you what movements you're actually doing, and they're dirty, filthy, liars. 

 

For golf, the answer is:

 

1. Start with the easy stuff. Grip. Address position. Alignment. You may think you have those things correct, but if you're self-taught, you might not. BTW these are things that posting a video here can help with. Heck, @MonteScheinblum who has a lot of excellent paid content on his web site has free videos on these subjects.  
2. Start with VERY basic mechanics. Again, you may think you have those things correct, but if you're self-taught, you might not. When I look at the high handicap players I regularly play with, MANY of them don't swing on an inclined plane--they come completely out of posture on the backswing with a flat (level to the ground) shoulder turn, and have to find their way back down to the ball. Basic things again can be addressed by posting a video here. 
3. Once you have that simple stuff down, accept your ignorance on the rest of it. Stop watching Youtube. Stop tinkering. Stop all of that. You already know it's not working. Accept it. 
4. See a professional. Get a lesson. From that lesson, get *one* thing to work on. Work on that regularly for a month, maybe two months, maybe longer depending on how much time you have to practice. If you build a relationship with the instructor where future lessons are expected, check in with the instructor with video to make sure you're *actually* doing what they tell you.  
5. Repeat step 4. 
6. If you repeat step 4 enough times, eventually you'll be making great beer arrive at a pretty functional swing. 

The good news for people like us is that we live in a golf Mecca, and can practice/play year round. So there will be no shortage of quality pros in your area, including Monte if you're willing to travel a little bit north beyond the Orange Curtain. 

 

I am contemplating going to monte for a lesson, but honestly with this past week I feel like I wouldn't be able to even articulate my issues to him lol. But yeah, we sound very similar. I can take apart and put back together almost anything, but I agree that trying to diagnosing your own swing without the proper knowledge is a crapshoot. I think I have felt that I had enough basic knowledge to at least get me started on the right path, obviously that's not the case.

[Streetscape]

1 hour ago, dfeldss said:

Gotta limit the amount of people you get your info from imo to 2 or 3. Your Montes and/or AMGs of the world. Make sure your resources are somewhat aligned in what they teach

 

And you gotta record your swing consistently so you can actually figure out what you're doing/not doing and track your progress. Practice with a purpose

 

Or just get lessons

Those are the big 2 I do follow, and it seems like they matchup well enough, but now I am not so sure. The majority here are right, even with as much time to practice as I have, I don't have the prerequisite knowledge to actually diagnose and correct what I'm doing.