If you’re happy with your golf game and able to enjoy with what you have, there is no need to practice to get better.
Golfers who have a goal or into local competition or tournament golf then needing to improve or to maintain their game.
After decades of golf, me too, seldom go to the driving range except for testing golf clubs or to lend an eye to the other’s who might have an issue that bothers their golf game. Often times the issue was very minor and could be fixed with a reminder to them.
However, I love to practice. When my health and schedule allowed. Even spending half an hour around the practice green is fun for me when I didn’t have enough time to hit a bucket of range ball.
Practice is what glued the game together, however, if i don’t have enough time for both the practice and playing the 18, of course I’d up for playing the game. I did enough practice in the last 4 decades to know my game.
Couldn’t have said that better. Me, I’m a range rat! Just so you know, being a range rat doesn’t necessarily translate to lower scores and scratch golf. I practice shots alot on the range. My partners, look on with sheer amazement on my ability to control ball flight. I can still hit a normal 7 iron 160ish when I want to, or hit the same 7 iron out of a flyer lie, 200ish, or knock one down and hit it 115. I am now playing to a legitimate 7.5 Hcp, What I don’t put near enough time into is chipping and putting and that costs me alot. I average about 6-8 GIR on the old home course, but our greens are teeny compared to some of the newer tracks. At my very best (30+ years ago) I was a 2.4 Hcp. As a former teacher, I bristle at anyone, who tells a golfer with a propensity to hit the banana ball, just aim left. That will just exacerbate your condition, or a person who develops a case of “El Hosels”… The ONLY way fix those flaws in your swing that cause that is to take a few lessons, be it online or in person, and beat your brains out on the range ingraining as close as you can the proper positions to generate speed and square impact at just past the bottom of your swing, as you simply put it:
When I read the OP, my impression was that this was someone who wants to improve his results without putting in the hard work to improve his swing. And he’s probably right, with some combination of stance (closed stance) and grip adaptation (hooded clubface), he probably CAN use his faulty swing to produce straighter shots. But those really are bandaids.
I agree with @MJTortella, if you really want to improve your results, you should do your best to improve your swing. Yes, its hard, it takes dedication, but its possible, even at age 70. He said his swing style won’t change much, and without a good bit of effort, he’s right. So the choice is his, how much effort is he willing to put in?
Short Answer is YES!.. Long Answer is YES!
Well, no one could “fix” a slice on the golf course. Not that it’s impossible but I had not seen it work on the golf course. The only sensible advice is to let the golfer play their slice, if they are consistent enough. Even as little thing as moving the fingers on the grip will cause a bunch of new issue if the golfer is not confident and comfortable with the change over.
It took me a whole season to change from interlocking grip to modified overlapping grip. same as Hogan’s reason, the interlocking grip hurt my pinky and the Vardon does not.
As for smaller greens. Yes the terrain and the size of the green dictate the GIR numbers. I remembered the first time I saw the greens at Spanish Bay and the Spy Glass Hill, was amazed at the smaller green size. We have so called medium sized greens around here vs. the usual jumbo sized putting surface typically in the desert golf courses.
Goal is always the same, put the golf ball in the cup with the fewest stroke as possible. Lift it out and continue to the next tee box , repeat.
Time flies when we were on the golf course. I can see why King James II of Scotland discouraged his countrymen from playing golf because it took their training time away from archery. So does the Communist China discouraged the average folks from getting into the game because it cost a lot to golf and takes them away from a “more productive” life, no party members are allowed to golf.
A perfect game for the retirees, if they chose to walk the golf course. sure beats walking/jogging on city sidewalks.
One question to the original OP… Is the out to in swing path 2-4 degrees with the shorter clubs, then, progressively worse (11-14 degrees) with the longer clubs? If that is the case, try this little drill on the range for what you should be feeling. Take your regular stance, looking and aiming str8 down the FW. Put your feet together and I mean together. The ball should be in the middle of your now feet together stance. Slight bend at the knees and waist, make sure your head is slightly behind the ball and try to keep it still (it will move, but that’s as a course of natural movement). Now, I want you to take a neutral grip, maybe slightly strong, make sure the V’s are pointing to your R shoulder. Your shoulders will naturally tilt properly because your R hand is lower than your Left. Hit 5-10 balls with every club in your bag starting with a PW…each swing progressively faster with a complete backswing and follow-thru. Swing the club letting the ball get in the way. If you fall off balance, for the time being, that’s as fast as you should be swinging that club, even with a normal stance. What this drill is promoting for you is a much more correct shoulder turn and consequently a much more consistent swing path. I am betting, you are coming out of your posture the longer the club gets. Let me know if I’m wrong OK. Even though, it’s a split second, you possibly are not letting the longer clubs catch up to your hip, shoulder, forearm, hand position. The connection is easy with a short iron, harder with a mid or long iron and very hard with a FW metal or Driver. What you will find, this will be closer to and promote, a proper swing path. This is just a quick fix, without putting in a lot of work… Your swing will be easier and feel slower, but the ball will actually go straighter and farther than a big banana and you will become alot more consistent. Let me know. This is a old time drill, along with the 9 to 3 drill. It promotes proper turn and balance, Hogan doesn’t mention balance and rhythm too much, but, if you’ve ever been fascinated by how slow and smooth it looks that Ernie or Vijay swing a club and they still pump it out there… because they never seem to fall off balance.
OP here.
I do play or practice 4+ times a week, even during New England winter in a heated range bay or indoor sim (I am lucky to work as a ranger where I do).
On the sim, with immediate swing path feedback, I can get very close to a straight-on path, and my work this winter is to make this swing feel normal.
Then will come my hands / release. Decades of baseball and softball where I rolled hands under is where my open club face originates. Rolling over to square the face just feels so unnatural, but it is where I know I need work.
Thanks for your thoughts. As one who was always good or better in every athletic endeavor I tried, this frigging game is HARD!
You are very welcome. I came from a baseball background before I ever picked up a golf club too. Although there are some similarities between a baseball swing and the golf swing. From my experience, the similarities begin and end with what the “feeling” of what the lower body is doing. In a properly executed golf swing, using the ground force to provide speed and while the upper body pivots around a fairly fixed point. Much like thinking of the power of a bull whip. The handle can stay at a fairly fixed point, but the end of that whip is travelling fast with a snap (OUCH!!). The hands in the golf swing, in a well executed swing are fairly dormant. They are only the lever and your shoulder is actually the fulcrum. In a baseball swing, the fulcrum is actually the wrist. Once I got that through my thick skull and trained my body properly I was able to execute some fairly consistent golf shots.
I totally agree with this. I used to hood the club to straighten my ball flight due to an out to in swing too. And it works wonderfully….until/unless you straighten the path or roll even more….but let’s be honest, no matter what you do we all have occasional bad shots - that’s golf!
At 70 or any age, just do what you enjoy and if closing the face a bit at address helps…Do It!!!
Nobody on this forum is playing professionally. “Bandaid fix” is thrown around way too much. Every decent golfer “calibrates” their swing to score better. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.
I’ve changed my path over the years, but will still hood the club at address slightly if I’m having “one of those days”. Do what works for you to score better and to heck with the rest!
Shoot….I even dug up an article by David Leadbetter who advocates this for some…just to justify it back in the day. But I’m past playing “golf swing” now.
As brief as I can be:
- Close clubface a little before taking your grip.
- As you said, close stance, aiming to right of target
- Experiment with the two above items, a little at a time.
No. 2 will affect your start direction.
No. 1 will affect how the ball curves.
Good luck to you.
Check out Darrell Klassen teaching pro for 50 years, online if you want.