Does anyone know someone, in Central KY, that is a pretty good golf teacher for a 65 year old student. Thinking of setting up some lessons for this Spring. Just a little background, been playing for 20+ years. I have played some of my best golf the last year and a half but have been in a bad funk the last 3 months that I have had a hard time getting out of. My brain is so scrambled right now, I can barely swing a club. I do have an above average short games so I am still able to score in the high 80's. Part of what has hurt me so much is I watch too many instruction videos on YouTube and keep changing my swing every week.
Senior golfer lessons
- Thread starter Wildcats30
- Start date
The problem with lessons is that they don't know how we think/process things. My only swing thought is not to let the butt head of the club stall. Keep it moving forward and to the left. If you don't, you lose the angle of the right wrist, flip, and it can go left or right. The right wrist will stay cocked if all you are thinking about is keeping the handle moving.
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I’m right where you are now. I’m 59, and played well in the spring and even into June. Then I decided I wanted to get better. Started watching all kinds of clips on the internet from reputable pros. Now I have at least 10 swing thoughts standing over the ball.
One thing that has seemed to help me the last couple of nights hitting balls into my net, I saw a tip when you address the ball, starting counting down from 100 and try to hit the ball at 95. It seems to have helped my tempo and keeps my mind from thinking about 30 different things.
"Trust your eyes" is the best tip I ever got. If you are thinking about stuff, you aren't focused with your eyes on the ball. You may be looking at the ball but if you are thinking about swing thoughts, you aren't focused at all. You don't think about form when driving a nail into wood.
Irons were my weakest part and now any time I have a shot that's not a driver, I try to ground the club 2 inches after the ball. So the bottom of my swing is well after the ball. I'm hitting some crazy good iron shots. I'm a low single digit handicap and have been for a long time. I can't break through to scratch as I never practice and rarely even warm up. I do only think about one thing when I'm BEHIND the ball (see above) but once I walk in and address it, I try to focus only on the line and whee to ground it. Both of those are done with the eyes.
Irons were my weakest part and now any time I have a shot that's not a driver, I try to ground the club 2 inches after the ball. So the bottom of my swing is well after the ball. I'm hitting some crazy good iron shots. I'm a low single digit handicap and have been for a long time. I can't break through to scratch as I never practice and rarely even warm up. I do only think about one thing when I'm BEHIND the ball (see above) but once I walk in and address it, I try to focus only on the line and whee to ground it. Both of those are done with the eyes.
At 57, I can also attest to getting worse the more YouTube videos I watched.
And I also have never had an in person lesson that stuck.
Not all swings are made the same, and what might work for someone else may not work for you.
I did finally figure something out on my own with my wrists that has made a tremendous difference in my irons, and my scores.
Figure out what works for you and convince your brain that it does indeed work.
Your brain is the worst enemy in golf.
And I also have never had an in person lesson that stuck.
Not all swings are made the same, and what might work for someone else may not work for you.
I did finally figure something out on my own with my wrists that has made a tremendous difference in my irons, and my scores.
Figure out what works for you and convince your brain that it does indeed work.
Your brain is the worst enemy in golf.
Thank goodness my short game has gotten pretty good because I can still break 90 most rounds as long as I keep the ball in play. My big issue is, no matter what club I hit off the tee, I am topping it or slicing it. I even hit a 4 hybrid off the ground on one tee box and sliced it. I know what causes slices, I just can't fix it.
I practice off a mat, I wonder if that makes a difference because I try to sweep the ball.
HUGE difference as just about everything comes off a lot easier and it gives you a false sense of security. But if that's your only choice, not much you can do but hit an extra ball if you have time (nobody behind you) when you are playing a round.
Mats on concrete have been known to cause injuries as well.
It has for me and I won't do it anymore.
Terrible for your body. I hit on them one time 30 years ago and said "never again".
If you are mechanically oriented, I would find a golfing machine certified instructor.
the ball only knows the geometry applied to the ball.
To become a scratch golfer, especially if you aren’t good now, you will need:
-great grip
-good stance with feet turned out
-square hips and shoulders
-a straight lead arm or radius that remains straight from p1 to p9 or address thru clubshaft parallel in the thru swing
-trail arm or right arm must bend from 180 to 90 degrees from set up to top of backswing.
-clubshaft needs to swing on plane to line up the sweet spot and hit accurately
-shoulders need to turn in a tilted circle
-weight need to shift towards the target.
-spine needs to Remain in its tilts thru out swing.
-eyes on ball
-knees touch at finish
practice and play a lot
the ball only knows the geometry applied to the ball.
To become a scratch golfer, especially if you aren’t good now, you will need:
-great grip
-good stance with feet turned out
-square hips and shoulders
-a straight lead arm or radius that remains straight from p1 to p9 or address thru clubshaft parallel in the thru swing
-trail arm or right arm must bend from 180 to 90 degrees from set up to top of backswing.
-clubshaft needs to swing on plane to line up the sweet spot and hit accurately
-shoulders need to turn in a tilted circle
-weight need to shift towards the target.
-spine needs to Remain in its tilts thru out swing.
-eyes on ball
-knees touch at finish
practice and play a lot
It all now in the arms where for years it was in the body. Just hit the ball with a square club face and swing as hard as you can with your head behind the ball. First lesson free.
Not a tip but a joke Lee Trevino told a group he was giving a lesson.
He said he was mowing his front yard and an old lady drove by and stopped and asked him how much he'd charge to cut hers. He said "I don't know, I mow this one at no charge because the lady inside lets me sleep with her for free."
The old lady gasped and got out of there so fast that her tires screeched.
He said he was mowing his front yard and an old lady drove by and stopped and asked him how much he'd charge to cut hers. He said "I don't know, I mow this one at no charge because the lady inside lets me sleep with her for free."
The old lady gasped and got out of there so fast that her tires screeched.
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That is 11 swing thoughts or keys, or about 9 or 10 more than I can keep in my head at one time.
Sam Snead would disagree about the swinging hard part as would Fred Couples.
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Just pick 2 or 3 and master and then move on to the others. I left off a lotThat is 11 swing thoughts or keys, or about 9 or 10 more than I can keep in my head at one time.
. Didn’t even mention wrist cock, Lag, drag or right arm thrustYou remind me of a friend who will make fun of himself by saying "that was swing 7(a)(iii)" or ish like that. Literally seems to have a different swing key on every hole.Just pick 2 or 3 and master and then move on to the others. I left off a lot
Little update, played Rosewood in Lebanon yesterday. I have had so many swing thoughts it's made my head spin. Listened to a tip that helped a lot. When I set the club behind the ball at address, I start counting down from 100, at 97, I pull the trigger and keep counting until the ball lands. Helped tremendously. Hit several of the best shots I have hit this year. Still sliced a couple and hit a couple fat. But, overall, it was much better. I am probably done for the year, back is starting to bother me. Thanks for the responses.
Glad I am not a head case when I address the ball. 1 swing thought and that is it. That being said, I have had countless lessons and more swings than I can count to get rid of a lot of the bad mechanics I used to have so it’s a long process to be able to get to this point.
Golf is the craziest game. Hit down to get the ball to go high, hit up to get the ball to go low. No wonder so many of us are basket cases. My problem was, I was playing as good as I ever played and got greedy. Started watching every YouTube video out there and tried something different every day. I do think a have a good plan for the winter and going into next spring.
Happens to the best of them. Tiger arguablly wins more majors than Jack if he just stuck with the swing Butch gave him.
Doing stupid things with his life off the golf course didn’t help either.
The biggest incremental jump in the 20 years I've been playing, happened about 7 years ago.
I quit CARING. I literally just quit thinking about anything during my swing except for just trying to make it feel like I was just letting the club's own momentum start and move through the downswing, and then just before the bottom get some nice easy snap on it. I can't really tell you what I'm DOING to produce that, other than it's pretty much like bracing your weight transfer with your front leg to accelerate a baseball bat through the hitting zone. I don't micro-manage my setup, posture, forcibly clear my mind etc. (in fact, I prefer noise/distraction from others while swinging.
So:
Stop caring about the outcome of the swing. (because that is the best way to screw it up in my experience)
and
let the downswing handle itself, and time the "snap" properly (don't rush it IOW) at the bottom. It's 100 percent feel, zero percent worrying about how the club gets there (square at the bottom)
I've never had a lesson, so my terminology is probably primitive/stupid sounding. One other thing, I quit playing as much. Used to, when I had the chance, I'd play sometimes three rounds a week. That frequency seemed to make me play worse. It would now appear, that I play better, when playing a lot less. Not sure what that even means. LOL
I quit CARING. I literally just quit thinking about anything during my swing except for just trying to make it feel like I was just letting the club's own momentum start and move through the downswing, and then just before the bottom get some nice easy snap on it. I can't really tell you what I'm DOING to produce that, other than it's pretty much like bracing your weight transfer with your front leg to accelerate a baseball bat through the hitting zone. I don't micro-manage my setup, posture, forcibly clear my mind etc. (in fact, I prefer noise/distraction from others while swinging.
So:
Stop caring about the outcome of the swing. (because that is the best way to screw it up in my experience)
and
let the downswing handle itself, and time the "snap" properly (don't rush it IOW) at the bottom. It's 100 percent feel, zero percent worrying about how the club gets there (square at the bottom)
I've never had a lesson, so my terminology is probably primitive/stupid sounding. One other thing, I quit playing as much. Used to, when I had the chance, I'd play sometimes three rounds a week. That frequency seemed to make me play worse. It would now appear, that I play better, when playing a lot less. Not sure what that even means. LOL
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Also, for me anyway, working on your swing at the range is the worst thing you (meaning ME) can do. I'd say that for most folks it not only doesn't help, it probably makes things worse.