If you could start over

suppose you could start over what would you do? I have bought 20+ books, and a couple of training aides. talked to many people about the swing, and taken lessons from a few different instructors. So, if I could start over, what would I do? First I would use two training aides in general, both by eyeline. One is for putting alignment and the other is for body and ball alignment. I now understand how important these simple things are. Also, I would model my swing after the one hogan discusses in his book. I would start with set up and do it by the book. I would pay more attention to what I used to think where small things, like set up and the waggle. Many people had called his book the bible of golf and the more I learn about golf the more I realize his book was ahead of its time. I would also get lessons, prefereably by a golfing machine instructor, or I would ask around and do research on trying to find out who in the area really knows their stuff. I would not just ask a couple of people but rather multiple. The hard part still would be finding the right instructor.

So if you could start over what would you do?

good luck in the search

Good quetion shootin
I grew up in a very poor part of Manchester , England and when i took up golf years ago it was still very much a sport for the middle to higher classes. So you can imagine that even if i could have found somebody to give me lessons, i could never have hope to afford their fees let alone buy any clubs, balls , shoes etc. So i learned from borrowing old liberary books and i managed to buy an old 7 iron from a car boot sale ( we called them flea markets then ).
I spent years in frustration from getting it all wrong and there would be the occasional high's where some aspect of my game would improve.
It took me years to work out by myself,what a pro could have taught me in a couple of lessons.

So what would i change???????.......Absolutely nothing

__________________
the dog wags the tail....the tail dosn't wag the dog

great point, sounds like you enjoyed the journey and that is what is truly important

I think if I was to start over...

My first step would be to get diagnosed as to which was my natural plane.

Then I'd spend a week at a full swing camp learning to ingrain the proper things. 8 hours a day for 5 or 7 days.

Then I'd get back, buy custom fitted clubs, and start playing.

Hi low
This is exactly what i plan to do in my next life

Now, this is my 3rd Canadian season (each season maxes out at 8 months at best, 6 months at worst - usually late April to mid October)... there may still be time for me to get that full swing indoctrination

hi all
if i could start over....
i wouldnt spend the first 12 months buying all the monthly golf mags reading all the instruction sections and getting confused.
i wouldnt buy loads of instruction dvd's and get even more confused.
i would google "slice cure" and find GTO sooner!
that is the main one. what with the great people on this site and a couple of lessons with a pro my game has improved beyond recognition culminating in a personal best today of 76!

If i had walked from work on the day of my accident , i would still be playing off scratch or better.

cheers up pal

Knowing what I know now, I would have become Moe Norman's caddy, and learned everything I could about his concept of his swing. If not him, then perhaps Earnest Jones's swing concepts. Two of the easiest, repeatable swings you will ever find, imho.

Now, golf instruction aside, I would have read everything I could get my hands on that explained the golf swing with regard to cause and effect. I would have done this before I even picked up a club. With out understanding the nuances of the ball flight, caused by the golf swing, actual instruction becomes a hit, or miss (hit) issue. GJS

hi all
that a good question! when i first started the first book i ever read was lee Trevino's golf my way and i spent 2 year's learning his way of golfing and i loved being told you cant play standing 45% open, did that for 10 years till a pro convinved me to change so i could draw a ball,i did hit it lot longer and i spent the next 20 years trying to control a ball with some days great and some really bad.
about 15 months ago i found my Lee Trevino book and tried it again, was bad for months but now i hit that high fade and i know the ball will turn 10 to 15 yards to the right and its on fairway lot more now, and i again love being told i cant play with my body facing 45% open and club face 15% closed and its always an in to out swing but it work and more important it fun, wish i had stayed with this system and not wasted 20 years of not knowing how far the ball would turn and what side of fairway it would end up on, i can aim at a bunker knowing it will fade away from it and i'm back loving playing again and will never hit low 70s but getting close to low 80s.
the main thing for me is its fun and i'm doing it my way or at least trevino's way.
bill

being Moe Normans caddy what are the advantages, disadvantages?

advantages,
A light bag because you only needed one ball and one tee
you could go over the yardages on each hole before a round, and write down beforehand how far he would hit it off the tee, how far he would have left to the hole and what club he would need to hit into the green with. So then you would not have to worry about walking distances or thinking of club selections during the round
less walking then the average caddy because he does not hit it off line, you could always say "hey moe, hit it down the left side, it is a shorter walk that way"
no need to pay attention or watch the ball, you know where it is going
never looking for a ball

Disadveantages
LONG practice sessions
never feeling like you have anything constructive to say Moe says "Darn it, I hit that one 3 yards off line"
you say "we all have our bad days"
Heavy bag because of carrying around all the coke he drank.
feeling the pressure of not losing a Tee, it might have been his favorite that he has had for a few years

Moe Norman, and Hogan sure do seem like they would have been a lot of fun to hang out with and caddy for

I started playing when I was 8 years old, if I could start over, knowing what I know now. I would talk my dad into moving to Ohio, next door to Jack Nicklaus and become his best friend, follow him like a puppy dog and do every thing he did...lol..at the very least I might have become his caddy.

oh yeah, well at two years of age I would have ran away from home and placed myself in a basket on the door step of Mr. Woods's house

I’m not sure I could say what I might have changed to make things go faster, better, easier, etc. IMO, mistakes, changes, ups and downs, etc. are part of the learning process of an adult, especially in golf.. If I had went about things differently, I would still have made a lot of mistakes, they just would’ve been a different series of mistakes than one’s I’ve made. Such is golf.....and life, really.

Now if I could change something outside of my control, I would’ve had my parents insist I learn golf as a child. They were very good to us and exposed us to MANY different sports and activities. Most of those things I am very good at today. Unfortunately, golf wasn’t one of them.