9-Iron Man
Exciting Times
Today (Feb 11, 2012) marked my first lesson. Before I get into it, I'll go say a little about me, my game, and my goals for the future, short and long term.
About Me
I'm 26 and I've been golfing "seriously" since July 2009. I put seriously in quotations because this was the point I started and actually could hit the ball. I dabbled in golf for many years, but always fought a HUGE slice off the tee. Because of this, I never really played very often. But in the summer of 2009, I received a few helpful tips that allowed me to actually start hitting the ball straight. I still fought the slice, but I could actually get the ball in play so I could progress off the first tee. I started playing more and by spring 2010, I was hooked. Coincidentally, spring 2010 is when I joined THP and after many months of lurking. I played more and more and ended up playing almost once a week. There is a par 3 course not too far from my parent's place that we would frequent. Good prices and a good place to practice. My game slowly got a little better as the summer progressed but then something happened, the wheels fell off and I was struggling again. Unfortunately, it happened while at the THP Fall Outing at PGA National. Winter came not too long after and my swing went into winter mode. I started back up again in March 2011 with some testing for the Rescue 11 for THP but I was still plagued with my bad swing.
And that is how things stayed for 2011. I got married and bought a house and never felt I had the time to really do anything about my swing. This lead to many frustrations on and off the course to the point where I just wanted to quit. That was late fall 2011. At this point, I took a self imposed hiatus from golf and THP and just tried not to think of it.
The problem with that was that I love to play golf. After much soul searching I realized that all my frustrations were of my own making with my inability to just accept the fact that I needed lessons. I got excited about the game again and booked my lesson for today and made my triumphant return to the game.
My Goals
Let's face it, I'm not going to end up on Tour. While it would be nice, it's just not going to happen. But that doesn't mean I can't enjoy the game and shoot good scores. The first goal, and the one that's definitely attainable is breaking 100. I've never really come close, but that's my starting point and my main goal for 2012. Lessons here are the key and with them, I feel 100% confident that I will reach this goal this year. From there, the goal moves to breaking 90. I would be more than happy if I can get my handicap to the 15-18 range. Averaging bogey per hole would not be the end of the world for me. I won't know if I'm capable of doing better than that yet, so that's where the goals end for now. If I can reach my handicap goals this year, great, if not. I know I will eventually. Breaking 100 is the first hurdle that I'm focused on.
The Lesson (2/11/12)
I arrive for my 10 am lesson on time, but the pro, Bruce, was still finishing the lesson before me so I went into another simulator bay to warm up. I selected my 6 iron and after a few stretches was hitting it dead straight. I mean I could not have hit it any straighter. I was pretty impressed and figured that it was going to be a great day. I hit about 7 more shots all very good and with average distance for that club. Bruce had since finished and I moved over to his bay.
He asked me a little about myself and my game and then asked me to hit a few balls with my 7 iron. I lined myself up and proceeded to shank the ball to the right. D'oh!! I swore emphatically that I was just hitting balls dead straight but he shrugged it off and asked me to hit a couple more. More of the same results followed.
He then showed me the video of my swing and started breaking down what he saw. Basically I was standing to close to the ball and I was leaning forward as I swung. I've always been more prone to hit the heel of the club and to see my head slide 2-3 inches toward the ball as I swung was a real eye-opener.
With the new direction in place he set up me up an inch or two away from the ball and really made me lower my hand to lower the shaft plane. Before, I would set up with the club head level to the ground. He said I should set up with the toe in the air as the flex of the shaft will bend to the ground as I hit the ball, essentially making it level at impact. I felt very hunched over and awkward as he set me up like this, hitting the ball seemed impossible. And for the first couple shots it was. So we began the 9-3 lesson to work on getting my swing plane on line. He also adjusted my grip a little.
I was using the grip I had learn from the grip-it rite training aid I had bought last year. He didn't change my grip a lot, but he did tell me to strengthen my grip with my left hand so my first two knuckles are visible and to grip with my right over top with the "v's" from my thumbs to point over my right shoulder. All this really came together while hitting 9-3. The ball was going quite straight and it definitely felt less awkward the more I did it. Even managed to pull one off that Bruce said was hit perfectly. The camera was rolling on that one too, even better!
At this point he assembled the video for me to take home and I've uploaded it to YouTube and attached it below. My swing looks a lot different comparing my first swing to what he showed me. It's all for the better though! I've booked three more lessons (Feb 18, 25, and 29) and I'll be updating this thread after each one. Hopefully after those three, I'll be able to get outside for some more. So Mother Nature, if you're reading this, please cut me a break!
Here's the video from today. Sound quality may not be the best so you may have to turn your speakers up.
Comments, questions? Please let me know!
About Me
I'm 26 and I've been golfing "seriously" since July 2009. I put seriously in quotations because this was the point I started and actually could hit the ball. I dabbled in golf for many years, but always fought a HUGE slice off the tee. Because of this, I never really played very often. But in the summer of 2009, I received a few helpful tips that allowed me to actually start hitting the ball straight. I still fought the slice, but I could actually get the ball in play so I could progress off the first tee. I started playing more and by spring 2010, I was hooked. Coincidentally, spring 2010 is when I joined THP and after many months of lurking. I played more and more and ended up playing almost once a week. There is a par 3 course not too far from my parent's place that we would frequent. Good prices and a good place to practice. My game slowly got a little better as the summer progressed but then something happened, the wheels fell off and I was struggling again. Unfortunately, it happened while at the THP Fall Outing at PGA National. Winter came not too long after and my swing went into winter mode. I started back up again in March 2011 with some testing for the Rescue 11 for THP but I was still plagued with my bad swing.
And that is how things stayed for 2011. I got married and bought a house and never felt I had the time to really do anything about my swing. This lead to many frustrations on and off the course to the point where I just wanted to quit. That was late fall 2011. At this point, I took a self imposed hiatus from golf and THP and just tried not to think of it.
The problem with that was that I love to play golf. After much soul searching I realized that all my frustrations were of my own making with my inability to just accept the fact that I needed lessons. I got excited about the game again and booked my lesson for today and made my triumphant return to the game.
My Goals
Let's face it, I'm not going to end up on Tour. While it would be nice, it's just not going to happen. But that doesn't mean I can't enjoy the game and shoot good scores. The first goal, and the one that's definitely attainable is breaking 100. I've never really come close, but that's my starting point and my main goal for 2012. Lessons here are the key and with them, I feel 100% confident that I will reach this goal this year. From there, the goal moves to breaking 90. I would be more than happy if I can get my handicap to the 15-18 range. Averaging bogey per hole would not be the end of the world for me. I won't know if I'm capable of doing better than that yet, so that's where the goals end for now. If I can reach my handicap goals this year, great, if not. I know I will eventually. Breaking 100 is the first hurdle that I'm focused on.
The Lesson (2/11/12)
I arrive for my 10 am lesson on time, but the pro, Bruce, was still finishing the lesson before me so I went into another simulator bay to warm up. I selected my 6 iron and after a few stretches was hitting it dead straight. I mean I could not have hit it any straighter. I was pretty impressed and figured that it was going to be a great day. I hit about 7 more shots all very good and with average distance for that club. Bruce had since finished and I moved over to his bay.
He asked me a little about myself and my game and then asked me to hit a few balls with my 7 iron. I lined myself up and proceeded to shank the ball to the right. D'oh!! I swore emphatically that I was just hitting balls dead straight but he shrugged it off and asked me to hit a couple more. More of the same results followed.
He then showed me the video of my swing and started breaking down what he saw. Basically I was standing to close to the ball and I was leaning forward as I swung. I've always been more prone to hit the heel of the club and to see my head slide 2-3 inches toward the ball as I swung was a real eye-opener.
With the new direction in place he set up me up an inch or two away from the ball and really made me lower my hand to lower the shaft plane. Before, I would set up with the club head level to the ground. He said I should set up with the toe in the air as the flex of the shaft will bend to the ground as I hit the ball, essentially making it level at impact. I felt very hunched over and awkward as he set me up like this, hitting the ball seemed impossible. And for the first couple shots it was. So we began the 9-3 lesson to work on getting my swing plane on line. He also adjusted my grip a little.
I was using the grip I had learn from the grip-it rite training aid I had bought last year. He didn't change my grip a lot, but he did tell me to strengthen my grip with my left hand so my first two knuckles are visible and to grip with my right over top with the "v's" from my thumbs to point over my right shoulder. All this really came together while hitting 9-3. The ball was going quite straight and it definitely felt less awkward the more I did it. Even managed to pull one off that Bruce said was hit perfectly. The camera was rolling on that one too, even better!
At this point he assembled the video for me to take home and I've uploaded it to YouTube and attached it below. My swing looks a lot different comparing my first swing to what he showed me. It's all for the better though! I've booked three more lessons (Feb 18, 25, and 29) and I'll be updating this thread after each one. Hopefully after those three, I'll be able to get outside for some more. So Mother Nature, if you're reading this, please cut me a break!
Here's the video from today. Sound quality may not be the best so you may have to turn your speakers up.
Comments, questions? Please let me know!
