I Started a Journey Today

Tap in to whatever you have done athletically to develop a “swing.”
Have you ever skipped a stone on a pond? Baseball? Tennis? Swing on a swing set? Martial arts?

Grip, aim, stance, posture are all setup skills that don’t require elite level athleticism. The “swing” is the to and fro motion that IF you are “setup” properly, the ball is collected by the club head and projected down the target line. Balance. Tempo. Rhythm. These are “felt” during the golf swing. Speed only matters at the moment of impact. Golfers do not “hit” the ball. They swing the club head. The ball is in the way.
It really is a “strike” as opposed to a “hit.” If you were going to punch me in the nose, you would use more than your fist to accomplish that.

“A blow is the son of motion. The grandson of force. Their mutual ancestor is weight” Galileo

The force is centrifugal. You “swing” the club head.

Get Ernest Jones book- Swing the Clubhead. It is 115 pages. You can read it and apply his advise.


A series of basic lessons is not that expensive. It sounds like your “job” may be one where a modicum of golf ability may improve your opportunities.

Do you have friends who play?

There usually is a friend who really understands the basic fundamentals and can give you some helpful hints.

Some guys have multiple sets of clubs.
I guess you could go to driving range with them and see if you can learn to swing any of their extras.

Where are you located. If you are close, I have a driver I will give you for free. Have a few laying around.

Same thing happened to me last year. At 52 I was backed into playing a game I never thought I would play. I had an old crappy set of clubs someone gave me. Best advise is take lessons, I took them from the start and it sure helped.

Be warned it will consume you. I am playing in a company event on Monday, golfing with customers tuesday and thursday. The following week 3 more days of golf. All work related.

Good luck and enjoy it.

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The following week 3 more days of golf. All work related.

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Y'all hiring?

OP, since you can't do lessons yet, I would start with your fanatic buddy. I'm sure he'd be glad to help out & he will be a great sounding board for anything else you run across.

From there, I'd worry about getting the shorter stuff, like wedges up to maybe a 7i. Swing easy & try to get a good smooth tempo. Focus on consistenly making good contact & don't worry about anything fancy. You have the rest of your days to bomb it 300 yds, but right now you'd just bomb it 300 yds out of bounds. Just play consistent grandpa golf & you'll be fine.

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Y'all hiring?

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I know right?? Where do you people find these jobs? Every job I’ve ever had I’ve had to steal time to play golf. If I HAD to golf for work I think I’d probably work that job until I’m dead. Probably for free.

Borrow an orange whip.

The “swing” gathers speed throughout the downswing.

Back, up, down, through.

Feel the “swing.” Don’t force it. Allow the “swing” to happen.

Smooth.
Not sudden.
Gathering speed from the transition.

An alternate to orange whip.
Turn club upside down.
“Swing.”
“Whoosh” sound should be near swing bottom and beyond.


Also “swinging” with your feet together can give you a “feel” of how the body movements “sequence” in a “swing.”
This also establishes “balance” as a fundamental part of a “swing.”

Get lessons.
It will be worth it.

You’ve got 3 months.
One lesson every 3 weeks with practice in between should get you where at least you can stand up to the ball and swing the club.

Who knows? You may enjoy golf.

My advice is to get some knowledge on the golf swing. You can watch youtube videos for that.

Learn the important things.

I think there are about 5 or 6 things in my swing thoughts..

Head down
Left arm straight
Balance
Rythym, smooth swing
Don't overswing

Stuff like that. Usually if I do those things, I'll hit a decent shot. But I say you should learn the tenants of the golf swing and just go to the range and practice. Practice all your clubs. Practice chipping. Get comfortablr hitting.

Then play a bunch of rounds to experience and practice the variety of shots during a round.

Take all advice with a grain of salt. Including mine.

Everyone has a different swing, everyone has different feels. But the more knowledge you gain the more you will hear common themes. Keep it as simple as possible at first. Get a grip trainer, keep your lead arm straight, and hit off of as many tees as possible at first. Hit all your clubs off of tees from various heights. You need to figure out what good contact feels like and what a good impact position is. There’s tons of snake oil on YouTube to consume, half of them contradict one another.

I’ve heard good things about Mike Bender, Mike Malaska, Todd Graves. They all probably teach slightly different swings. I also love watching old videos of Ben Hogan and Moe Norman.

You want smooth effortless speed and a repeatable swing that can create consistent contact.

Probably should’ve started by saying chipping and putting is just as important if not more important when it comes to scoring in golf. When I practice I start by hitting chip shots and pitch shots working my way up to a full swing. And I do this with longer clubs as well.

I'm down south in Thibodaux. Thank you for the offer though!

I want to thank everyone for your input. I've been practicing almost every afternoon just being comfortable with the swing rotation of my upper body. I realized rather quickly that my biggest issue was always "throwing my hands" at it with a more of an over the top baseball swing. I guess 20 years of baseball will cause that.

As for those suggesting my customer for a few tips, I never lied to him and said I played golf nor did I ever use the "We should play golf" but never extend an invitation, but we have absolutely talked about the Masters and Majors. I think he has the impression that I at least can shoot under 100. I'm going to break it to him the week before and he's a great guy, so he'll get a good laugh out of it.

Does anyone have any suggestions on either pro shops for lessons or possibly training centers? I've seen a few online, but no real reviews.

I know I wont be a pro in 3 months, but if I could hit a few fairways, maybe on the green everyone once in a while, I'd be okay with that.

Given your situation, the grips on those clubs are probably worn out. Have them regripped or at lease the 7 iron which you should use mainly in your range time. Fresh grips can make the works of difference in your swing. You won’t have to grip the club so hard to help control it. I highly recommend for beginners to check out Saguto Golf on YouTube and other social media. He teaches the stack and tilt system which is super simple and basic. It’s not necessarily a good system for advanced players. Also, seems like for you to contribute in your format, you can help by making putts and short game chips and pitches. Good Luck