Anyone here play golf and/or tennis?

[edavies87]

tennis is good, but real men play squash!

Got it in one my friend!

[kushtibari]

You can pay a fortune for lessons in golf and end up having way too many thoughts going round in your head. Best book I've read for teaching yourself the ins and outs is Harvey Penicks little red book

Doesn't do anything complicated - more a collection of tips and sayings that stick in your head more effectively than some pros who just come out with the same crack all the time "keep your head still, dont bend your left arm, swing through the ball etc etc"

Another tip is correct course management - too many high handicappers get into a spot of bother and try and 'rescue' themselves with a miracle shot, and end up taking 7 or 8. If in doubt just knock it a few yards so its in a nicer position and move on.

[bigblue]

Few simple golf pointers that I've been taught that served me well.

Swing through the ball, not AT it. Main reason why loads folk have scratch handicap practice swings and 36 handicap ball striking ! Swinging without anything to aim at feels natural as you're only thinking of finishing your swing. As soon as you put one of those little white dimply fellas down the urge to batter it is irresistible. When you contact the ball you're only 3/4 of the way through the swing, keep going !

If you don't hit a driver well stick to the 3 or 5 wood. You'll hit the middle of the bat waaay more often due to the shorter shaft . You'll be more accurate too as fairway woods have more loft than your driver, reducing sidespin (slice and hook). A good 3 wood hit won't finish that far behind a good driver. But you WILL hit the 3 wood properly more often. You'll probably gain some yards on average as the ball doesn't tend to roll so far when it's in a field

Don't take too long a backswing, just go back until you feel coiled and ready to release the energy you've (hopefully !) stored. Your weight should be mainly on your right side as you finish your backswing. Then turn and swing through, transferring your weight onto your left side and try and finish facing the target. The old tip about finishing your swing with your belt buckle facing the target stands true.
Some slicers tend to leave their weight stuck on the right as they swing through. The club doesn't get a chance to square up and off to the right it goes. There's a million different things that could cause a slice (open face, not transfering weight, swing path) and ther's no cure-all for it. A tip that works with one slicer might screw up another slicer even more !

Practice your putting as much as you practice your full shots. I know it's not as much fun but it'll get you greater rewards. In a round of 72 shots 36 should be full shots, 36 should be putts. So when we're practicing why do we all hit 50 drivers, a few woods, a dozen iron shots, chip a few times and then have just 6 putts ?! Just take the putter back straight, low and smooth and make sure the putter head is accelerating when it strike the ball.

Try not to do practice several things at once. The old "keep my head down, left arm straight, left heel down, turn, pause, down, through" etc. stuff rattling round your head when you try to swing is no good ! Pros only have 2 swing thoughts at a time, at most.

Don't get too technical. As has been said in a million golf lessons, when you throw a stone you don't think about it that much. You don't go "right, back to about there, tuck my elbow in, keep my wrist straight, turn my hips and fire" do you ? If you work one on or two things at a time they'll soon become second nature and you won't have to think about it.

I'll shut up now as I'm starting to sound a bit of a numpty. But not before my pet topic...

Equipment !
If you don't hit your long irons well invest in a "rescue" type club. Best advance in golf equipment for years. Playability of a wood, accuracy of an iron. Well, not quite, but somewhere inbetween !

A cheap steel shaft will ALWAYS be better than a cheap graphite shaft. A lot of package sets come with graphite shafts as it adds to the perceived value. Unless you have a very slow swing these won't generally be for you.

If you can afford it, get custom fitted. Someone at 5'6" really shouldnt be playing with the same sticks as someone who's 6'6" but they do, all too often !

Right, definitely shutting up now