OT: hockey/ golf

[slade]

this might be a bit off topic- but here goes:

ive been paying hockey for 15 years including college experience...and have a career in finance working for a top 2 investment bank. everyone and I mean EVERYONE is a golfer. ive been to the range a bunch of times...but have had a horrendous time learning a correct golf swing. i think this is mainly from the fact that i shoot lefty in hockey and righty in golf. does anyone else have this same handedness that can help me out?


i realize the learning curve for golf is insane...i just basically want to get the ball off the ground.





any tips will be greatly appreciated.

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[Danrik]

dunno... keep your eyes on the ball, don't lift your front foot and do not swing for the fences. A smooth swing is your friend.

 

[Keetz]

how would you hit a baseball? maybe you need to switch to left. my brother swings right but puts left. there are great classes out there for beginners for reasonable prices.

 

[Puckboy]

this might be a bit off topic- but here goes:

ive been paying hockey for 15 years including college experience...and have a career in finance working for a top 2 investment bank. everyone and I mean EVERYONE is a golfer. ive been to the range a bunch of times...but have had a horrendous time learning a correct golf swing. i think this is mainly from the fact that i shoot lefty in hockey and righty in golf. does anyone else have this same handedness that can help me out?


i realize the learning curve for golf is insane...i just basically want to get the ball off the ground.





any tips will be greatly appreciated.

Can I use that excuse also? I think golf is just a tough sport to pick up. Need to be playing a lot.

 

[slade]

Can I use that excuse also? I think golf is just a tough sport to pick up. Need to be playing a lot.

haha

true- wanted to know if people had the handedness problem...


thanks for the tips. i think im just trying to rip too hard.

 

[KevinLin]

Just keep going to the driving range. Sometimes you can get free pointers there too.

 

[RJ8812*]

i've never heard of that before....

 

[TBLfan]

I am right handed. Shoot right handed but can shoot left handed as well, I can golf and bat in baseball both ways too... BUT my wrist shot and the fluidness of my golf shot as well as my baseball swing is better left handed. If I could puckhandle left handed I would certainly play left handed. Try it out... and make sure to keep your elbow straight.

 

[Ludwig Fell Down]

haha

true- wanted to know if people had the handedness problem...


thanks for the tips. i think im just trying to rip too hard.

My brother is right-handed, but plays hockey left-handed, and is a switch-golfer. He plays golf right-handed but keeps a lefty seven iron in his bag in case he gets into trouble. He says that righty is more natural, so I would go with your first instinct and just work on your swing.

If you can't get the ball in the air, you may be trying too hard to lift it. Let the club do the work for you.

 

[Gallagbi]

I golf right, but shoot and bat left. I do putt Left still though. Take some lessons and practice.

 

[Happy Pony]

if you slice the ball..

bring your legs closer together. someone mentioned swinging for the fences, a wide base is common in this.

With a wide base your hips can't come through in rhythm with your arms/hands and the club face doesn't meet the ball square on.

 

[slade]

thanks guys....i mostly hit line drives where the ball barely gets of the ground. i think im mimicking a hockey swing where you tighten up a half second before a slapshot to lift the puck....and skimming the top of the golf ball.

 

[frito]

You can always try a Happy Gilmor swing and see if that helps. I'd like to help but even though I'm an accountant by trade, I loathe golf.

 

[slade]

You can always try a Happy Gilmor swing and see if that helps. I'd like to help but even though I'm an accountant by trade, I loathe golf.

not a huge fan of the sport either- but i feel like im missing out on a lot of networking possibilities by not having any game.


if only these managing directors could skate.....

 

[McNasty]

Don't move your head. Smooth swing. I actually enjoy golf, especially driving ranges i can hit it 150yds sometimes 200 if i connect right. Golf is all technique, keep practicing and work on your form. make sure to bend your knees.

 

[EmptyNetter]

Do you own your own clubs or do you rent/borrow them? If the club's not yours you'll probably have a hard time adjusting to a new club each time you pick one up. Always grab the club in the same place, use the same grip, same stance, same bend, etc. If you're always hitting the top of the ball then either bend your knees a bit (get low) or grip the club closer to the end. . . or use a longer club.

I don't golf or go to a driving range often enough to give you great advice, but I know that it's often a very slight tweak that can make a huge difference in your performance.

 

[Taranis_24]

I'm a scratch golfer and just picked up ice hockey about 15 months ago. This is my advice on golfing. Left hand/Right hand doesn't really matter. What matters is which feels more natural and comfortable. When you go to the range don't pull the driver out first start with an 8 iron or shorter, wedge preferably. Spend a lot of time only taking the club back to waist level but finish with a full followthrough. This will help you learn the proper swing path. To learn a decent golf swing think of four things:
1) grip, don't do two handed one hand will always take over. If you have large hands try the vardon overlap grip. Folks with smaller hands seem to have better success interlocking.
2) stance, you want a comfortable stance think of baseball and watch the fielders. You want knees flexed, slight bend at the waist, arms swing stright down from the shoulders. Watch your spine it should remain constant throughout the swing. If you are hitting think you are lifting at impact. If you are hitting fat you are dipping at impact.
3) alignment, you want your feet, hips and shoulders should all be pointing to the same direction. Easiest way to line up properly is get behind the ball and draw an imaginary line from your target to about 2 feet in front of your ball. Setup to that spot. It's easier to lineup to something 2 feet infront of your then it is to something 200 yards away.
4) balance/tempo. I know it sounds like two things but if you swing to hard you will lose your balance. Swing to where you keep your balance throughout the back swing to the follow-through. The easier you swing the farther it goes. EDIT: To learn a good tempo try this drill. If you hit a wedge 120 yards pull out your 7-iron and try to hit that only 120 yards taking a full swing. Doing this will slow you down and slower the better.

Also, remember golf is a game of opposites. Meaning if you take your backswing to the inside you come back at the ball from the outside causing a slice. If you sway back on the back swing you will sway forward on the down swing causing a slice or even uglier over the top pull duck-hooks.

I do agree with the above post. If you plan to play and keep playing buy your own clubs. Get a decent set not saying go out and spend $1000-$1500, but those walmart $200 sets are not worth it and if you improve you will want a better set anyhow.

I hope this helps, remember to have fun.

 

[bleedgreen]

getting your own clubs is huge. im too tall for regular sets, i finally picked up a good midlevel set of clevelands on ebay for like 3 hundred that was fitted to the same numbers the shop said i needed and everything got a lot better. more consistent i should say. i taught myslef to play about four years ago and im hitting in the low 90's now, occasionally high 80's. i was just where you are now a few summers ago. the things that helped me the most:

1) tossing away the drivers/fairway woods. i hit a 4 or 5 iron off the tee. seriously. i couldnt hit a wood to save my life. if it was only over one fairway it was a good shot. i wanted to learn to hit straight, not hard. it was embarrassing at first, but it worked quickly. i could hit a 4 iron further and straighter than the average joes i played with could hit their fat headed drivers by the end of the first summer. i just started with a 5 wood last year, since i already had a pretty good swing going it was an easy adjustment, and i can hit that 5 wood 250+ easy. it was a matter of accepting i didnt care that the other guys laughed at me at the tee with my iron. they werent laughing when i was the only one with an acceptable second shot.

2) like others have said, not trying to hit hard. im not saying just not trying to kill it, i mean pull it back like 30-40%. just try to swing smooth and natural and let the club take it where it wants. also a tough mental adjustment when youre learning, especially around the guys.

3) getting my own clubs.
4)playing and practicing by myself when i could. here in CO i would go in the colder months (its usually really mild here in the winter), or go during weekdays when i got the chance. just before dark, anywhere i could that i could just go by myself. crappy courses. anywhere. get used to not getting embarrassed by sucking. get your confidence to the point where your at least moving down the fairway so you can at least do that when your with the guys. i went to a lot of par three's at first, they helped.

5) practice a lot on the chipping greens and putting surfaces. makes a huge difference.

thats what helped me become a mediocre golfer, which is all i really wanted. taranis' post is awesome, try all that.

ps if you cant even get the ball in the air, maybe your stance isnt lined up to the ball correct. too far in front or behind. taranis probaby can explain that better than me.

 

[Taranis_24]

ps if you cant even get the ball in the air, maybe your stance isnt lined up to the ball correct. too far in front or behind. taranis probaby can explain that better than me.

Agreed the biggest way to lower your scores is around the green you can't practice the short game and putting enough.

Getting the ball in the air. You are probably making the mistake every beginner makes. Irons the loft gets the ball in the air you have to hit the ball with a descending blow, imagine pinching the ball against the turf. This will also create the spin you see the pros get thats how you get the ball to stop on the green. Don't try to scoop the ball off the ground most cases you hit thin and get low line drives. Same with fairway woods but the swing isn't as steep. The driver is the only club where you hit the ball with an ascending blow because its on a tee. Irons hands should be ahead of the ball at address, fairway woods slightly ahead to even with the ball. The driver the ball is just inside your left instep (right handed golfer) and the butt end of the club should be pointing at your belt buckle, your hands with the driver are actually behind the ball.

Ok I did forget one thing. This will almost automatically improve your ball contact. Take a 5 iron. On grass without a golf ball take 5 - 10 good swings taking a divot everytime. The point where your club first meets the grass thats where you want the ball in your stance for your irons. Remember divots are not from behind or underneath your golf ball they are from in front of your golf ball after contact remember you are going to hit your irons with a downward blow to use the loft of the club to get the ball airborne.

 

[slade]

thanks guys....

i admit ive only been trying to hit the one.


i will go for the high irons.


thanks a ton.

 

[ModSquad]

Nothing wrong with shooting LH and golfing RH...actually it is correct. I know this will start up another can of worms, but dominant hand should be on top of your hockey stick. 75% of the NHL can't be wrong.

 

[Useless Yashin]

I have 6 handicap and play a few times a week. The best advice you can get is take a few lessons from your club pro, and then practice everything he taught you in the driving range. Always remember to concentrate on what your doing. Keep practicing. The better you get, the more enjoyable and fun your round is.

 

[triggrman]

I enjoy golf, helps that I live right by the city course. The best thing I ever did for my golf swing was lessons. Even over clubs lessons are the most important.

 

[MacBeatsPang]

I took my first golf lesson last summer after playing for about 10 years and when my instructor, a Minnesota native, found out that I also play hockey he said I should think of the golf swing very much like a hockey shot. So the OP for this thread might consider switching to the same handedness as for hockey.

Also, the comment about hitting line drives leads me to believe he's not hitting DOWN on the ball. One quick tip I got a long time ago that helped: the ball gets lifted in golf by being squeezed between the ground and the clubface. You don't want to hit it like a hammer to a nail, of course, but if you think "hit down" you'll probably start getting closer to the correct ball flight. Good luck!

 

[DaveG]

First thing: head to a shop with a test range and try out both righty and lefty clubs. Ask to test out some of the clubs to see what feels natural to you. If you have a Dick's sporting goods in your area that's one thing they're actually quite good for.

Second: get a good set of clubs. It will run you $800+ but believe me when I say it's worth it. Constantly readjusting to new sets of rental clubs each time you play will hurt your development as a golfer and probably take a good bit of enjoyment out of the game for you.

Third: Practice before you think about playing a round. Hit the driving range and use primarily irons off the grass. A lot of people seemingly go just to swing away with these drivers but my take is that is the last club you should be working on. As Bleedgreen pointed out you can very often get solid distance off the tee with a good 3, 4 or even 5 iron shot. If you hit the high irons well you can often get it just as far as these guys that just try and rip it with their driver with better accuracy. As for putting and your short game, you can NEVER have enough practice here since on and around the green is where about half your shots will be taken. Even a game of minigolf can help out your accuracy here. Personally I try to tak about 15 minutes before I play a round to work on my putting on one of the practice greens there. If it's a slow day on the course and there's nobody imediately behind me I'll take out a couple sleves of balls and just practice my chip shots on a difficult green for a bit before continuing on.
Anyway, key is it's mostly about your short game. You can have a huge drive but if you have no short game it's going to be very frustrating to play, it's not very often that it's the other way around. If you can hit your irons and put then you're in prety good shape.

Fourth: Have fun with it and simply relax. You're going to play a much better game if you're just having fun with it rather then stressing about the small things you don't do well in your game, especially when you just start playing.