Left arm straight follow up

 Beginner  No Responses »
Oct 042012
 

I will admit, it is difficult to keep the left arm straight in the back swing. About half way through the bucket I realized that I started bending my left arm. The bend was not as prominent as it was initially before I started keeping my left arm straight. I had to get used to shifting my weight too. My weight was shifting on my back foot more than it should have, causing me to almost lean back on my swing. If you feel yourself not stationary or not moving forward doing your swing then you might be putting too much weight on your back foot.

Initial post: http://golfwithgoogle.com/?p=53

Left arm straight, left arm straight…left arm STRAIGHT!

 Beginner, General  1 Response »
Oct 012012
 

A major component to beginners golf that I never realized is that you must keep your left arm straight. This was pointed out to me by my friend who was watching my back swing. Look at the pros, the left arm in the back swing is straight. If you take your left arm, point it straight away from your body, take your right arm and grab your left shoulder, pull left arm to the right. This motion is crucial to the golf swing  because it helps build compression in the back swing and maintain a steady follow through.

This is not a tip I learned through Google, however hitting up youtube and following the instructions in these videos will emphasize my point.

Left arm straight at the start, through, and at the finish of the swing - http://youtu.be/Lo_HvZxTBSE

The below video is ideal for people who cannot obtain full rotation with a straight left arm. If you have a thicker upper body or a heavy middle section that makes it difficult to get a full rotation, which is bringing your left shoulder to the point where the ball is, then look at the below video.

Left arm straight at the point of impact - http://youtu.be/4Lw9eYpZyrs

Willow Run in Mayville, NY

 General, results  No Responses »
Sep 102012
 

I was up for a fundraiser event to help aid hospice and played a round of golf with my brother at Willow Run in Mayville, NY. It’s a simple par3/4 course that I absolutely love because its inexpensive and the course is very well maintained for the price! I shot a 43 out of 29. I struggled mostly on my putting. This is a part of my game I have neglected though, feeling that I need to focus more on my irons and drives than putts. I’m starting to see the issues with this and will start focusing on some videos and trainings for putting as well.

One of the issues I was having at Cacapon did not plague me at Willow Run. At Cacapon I kept trying to focus on every single detail of the new style of swing I was using. This made it difficult for me to just swing the club. I kept focusing on the age old problem of hitting the ball instead of swinging the club. At Willow Run I set my stance up as usual but instead of trying to count all the steps in my routine, I just swung the club. I had some beautiful shots and a few possible birdie shots that I screwed up with my putting.

 

Driving Range Routine

 Beginner, General  No Responses »
Sep 042012
 

I played at the Cacapon Golf Resort on Saturday with my father and to be honest, I played like shit. It didn’t help that the gnats were so thick that the second you stood still they would try to fly in your ears. Also the sun came out after a nice humid morning and created a very muggy atmosphere. I don’t want to try to make excuses for myself and my absolute breakdown on Saturday, however the conditions were difficult and the mental side of my game was not prepared for it. I did have some beautiful shots but those happened when I was comfortable and completed my full swing without thinking too hard or getting distracted. However, since I am very much a beginner along with the rest of you, I won’t beat myself up any further.

This week I will be going to the driving range to make up for my failures on the course. There is a large difference in quality of play on a course versus a driving range. The important part of the driving range is to reinforce muscle memory and to help build a comfortable swing. I used to go to the driving range and just swing my driver, thinking that was the most important part of my game. This is incorrect, as the driving range should be looked at as a place to test all possible shot combinations, including chipping, punching, driving, and other approaches you might take.

Paul Wilson’s driving range warmup is a very important video to watch. Stretching is important in a golf game. Fluid and fast motions are achieved by relaxed and flexible muscles. Stretching and warming up properly form good habits.

 

 

Next, be sure to make the most efficient use of your time at a driving range. Just hitting golf balls with your driver is not the most efficient use of your driving range time. Follow Paul Wilson’s video here to help understand proper time usage at a driving range.

 

Golf grip styles

 Beginner  No Responses »
Aug 312012
 

There are three general styles that people hold a golf club. There is the Baseball Grip, Vardon Grip, and the Interlocking Grip. I seem many people default to the baseball grip. This grip can tend to lead to fat shots and poor form because one feels they should swing the club like a baseball bat. I personally default to the Interlocking grip because it seemed to be the most common at the time. Many people use the Vardon Grip as well. The important thing is to become comfortable with the grip and understand the best way to use it. Just holding a golf club with a grip does not mean you will successfully hit a shot. It does mean that you are one, of many, steps closer though.

The two main videos that I focused on for trying to find the best approach for my grip style are these two.

Paul Wilson – Stylistic of a soft, guided swing

Shawn Clement – Strong grip, no hold bird!

Without getting too much in to swing technique, I chose to go with the strong grip over the soft grip. Paul Wilson’s grip guide is nice but I didn’t seem to get as much power as I would have liked from my shots. Also if I happened to hit fat, duffing behind the ball, my shot was severely limited in distance. Shawn Clement’s strong grip was more effective in properly forming my swing and follow through to get more power from my shot. Shawn’s reasoning seemed more logical too. I don’t know too many tennis players or baseball players that hit for power with a soft grip.

 

Important Point To Take Away (IPTTA)

Determine your golf style, avoiding baseball grip if possible. Practice the grip and feel comfortable with it. Comfort is an important factor with Golf. If you do not feel comfortable in a shot, you will most likely fail the shot.

Golf Club Selection

 Beginner, Equipment  No Responses »
Aug 302012
 

One the things that I overlooked when I first took up golf years ago as a kid was club selection. I had a set of hand me down clubs that were a hodge podge of different sets. This included a Driver that was the length that I should be using and a series of irons that were an inch to two inches too short. I duffed with these clubs for many years but never felt like I was improving.

This spring I decided to get a new set of clubs. I went to the local golf shop near me and got measured and fitted. Fortunately I am a standard size so I had a large selection of clubs immediately available to me. The proshop I went to really wanted to sell me a set of used Callaway X24′s for around $300. This seemed a bit much to me considering I also needed woods, a putter, and a bag. They had a compelte set of Tight Lies from Adams for $400 which seemed like a logical buy because it was everything for $100 more.

The set plays much better than my old set. Golf technology is something I am still learning but I believe it is safe to assume that the difference between a set of Northwoods from the early 1990′s is inferior to a set of Tight Lies from 2012. The most important thing is that the club set fit my sizing. It is better to buy clubs to fit your game and not fit your game to your clubs.  Fitting my game to my clubs proved to only make it more difficult to try to improve. Basically the clubs work for you, you do not work for your clubs.

The gripping on the Tight Lies are standard and strong. I get a good grip, even in the rain. The bag quality is not the best. It does have the double strap which is nice when you are either walking the course. The dividers on the inside are starting to tear which makes it difficult to put clubs back in to my bag now.

Important Point To Take Away (IPTTA)

Get fitted for your clubs, it is usually a free service at the larger stores or worth the $25 or so fee at a golf shop. This prevents poor habits from forming in the beginning. The clubs work for you, you do not work for the clubs.

Introduction

 General  No Responses »
Aug 292012
 

Today I start documenting my attempt at learning Golf through using the resources that I was brought up with, the Internet. I have never taken a lesson and adopted every imperfection that a golfer can suffer from. So, at the start of this summer I bought a new set of clubs and resigned myself to actually trying to learn the sport that I never really made an effort in since I flubbed my first drive years ago.

There are many resources on the Internet that can help fix one flaw or perfect another. However, I found it difficult to use them all together as a guide to learn all of the nuances involved with Golfing. The focus of this blog will be how I started, what I have done, how I have improved, and where I fail(ed).

Later today I will post the clubs I’ve purchased and my previous experience in order to give a background to what I have done.