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What is the secret to golf?

How about swinging from the ground up as a beginner golfer? I think many will agree, golf is "supposed" to be played with a lower body move in the downswing. But, like many of us, we start off without lessons and learn to play the game with our hands and arms. Also, many of us played baseball, basketball, football etc before starting golf. It's hard to undo years of these hand driven sports. I tried to play with the lower half in the DS, it just doesn't work very well.
 
Practice and don’t take myself too seriously on the course
 
RealPretendPsychic said:
Do it your own way! There’s more than one path to success.
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This is true. I'm not a good golfer by any stretch. But I improved my game by doing two things. First, I finally convinced myself I will never be Arnold Palmer. Bad shots are gonna happen. Take them in stride and think about the next shot. Don't let it bother you.

Second, I kept going to the range and experimenting with all kinds of different things. My grip. Ball position. Experimenting with the backswing. Try shallow then steep. In between. Follow through. Step towards the target like Gary Player did. Pretty much everything I could think of.

I finally settled in on some things that work for me. Probably wouldn't work for someone else. But my limited mobility at my age makes it hard swing the way that is universally taught. I break my wrists more than I should on the back swing. My grip is more like a baseball grip. But it helped me get better. Buying a range card so my buckets are less than half the price allows me to go out there more often. I try to make it twice a week. My handicap improved from upper 20's in 2019 to lower 20's. My goal has always been bogey golf. I feel like this is the year I get there.
 
Carolina Golfer said:
How about swinging from the ground up as a beginner golfer? I think many will agree, golf is "supposed" to be played with a lower body move in the downswing. But, like many of us, we start off without lessons and learn to play the game with our hands and arms. Also, many of us played baseball, basketball, football etc before starting golf. It's hard to undo years of these hand driven sports. I tried to play with the lower half in the DS, it just doesn't work very well.
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I played a lot of baseball and men's fastpitch softball over the years. I still incorporate that in my swing. It took a lot of range time to work with it and make it straight enough. One thing though. I hit the ball with pretty good distance for a guy who has a Medicare card. I think the baseball/softball swing probably has a lot to do with that. Last round my shortest drive was 220. My longest was 260. I probably average between 230/240. 20 years ago I had plenty of 300 plus drives if I hit it straight. Which wasn't very often.
 
The secret is to enjoy the journey of creating a good swing, love that it's really hard, accept the challenge, understand that it takes dedication and hard work just to fix one problem and then you have to work on another, and until you do you won't play well, just a fact, if that sounds like a good time to you then you have found the secret.
 
Something I'm working on is staying out of my own head during a round and looking to enjoy my time out there more instead of focusing on the stuff I'm doing wrong
 
Don't get discouraged. It's a hard game. It's humbling. While we would all love results for the practice we put in whether it's on our own or with a coach, enjoy the process.
 
The secret to golf is like the riddle of steel.
 
Have fun and play fast.
 
Practice with a good teacher to get the fundamentals down. Keep working to get a repeatable swing & Practice, Practice, Practice! If you think you've practiced enough .... you haven't. Keep practicing & then practice some more!
Also, it would depend on how serious you want to take the game. Do you want to just go out with your friends for a few hours & drink a few, have fun no matter what? Or do you want to get really good, play in tournaments, & take your friends money? :unsure:
 
Don’t try to swing as hard as you can, swing as well as you can. Nothing beats hitting around the middle of the club face.
 
When learning the game take responsibility for your own improvement/you are your own best teacher. Learn everything you can about the all aspects of the game.
 
Golf becomes way more enjoyable when you realize the everyone sucks at golf to varying degrees. The only good golfers play golf for a living.
 
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