Late starter at golf

Lergnom
Mon, 12 Aug 2013 12:30:26 +0000

You’re probably not going to hit the ball a long way so concentrate on developing a simple repeating swing. I’ve heard a physics professor/golfer talk about his analysis of golf swings from data he developed by sticking sensors in the club shaft. Two main points. First, all the good golfers stop at the top of the backswing. No exceptions. Bad golfers rush that. Second, a main determination of distance is the release of the wrists in a relatively small area - often referred to as the hitting zone in golf magazines - so if you concentrate on that area, on developing your wrist release and thus clubhead speed there, you will do better than if you try to swing faster to hit it farther. He demonstrated that bad golfers tend to hold their wrists pretty still and then try to hit the ball far by swinging faster instead of swinging with an easy, natural rhythm and confining the explosive part to that small area near the bottom of the swing.

And of course, half your shots are putts and more are around the green, so concentrate on learning some basic wedge shots well, meaning distance and control, not how far you can hit it. It’s a really good idea to have someone show you how to explode out of a sand trap because it’s a simple trick - open club face, swing under and through the ball and it comes right up.

In terms of clubs, most players are more comfortable with higher number woods than long irons. Find your comfort point. If you can’t hit above a 5 iron with confidence, get a higher number wood. Very few people can hit a 2 iron confidently and now many people don’t carry 3’s or even 4’s. And some people find hitting a 2 wood is easier than a driver because of the extra bit of loft.

As for driving, it’s important to keep your swing under control but one bit is simple: tee the ball up the same way each time and learn where you have to stand at the ball for each club but particularly the driver and longer clubs because those are less forgiving. Better golfers do the same thing over and over while worse golfers stand here and then there.