MissySki
Angel Diva
I decided to move my accounts from my first lessons to this new thread and will post my progress here in case anyone is interested in learning golf from scratch as an adult. Figured the more seasoned golfers might prefer to have different types of conversation in the main golf thread.
Recap
I've never played golf on an actual course before. The extent of my past experience has been some sporadic driving range visits growing up (of which I had no idea what I was doing), mini golf which I love but am horrible at, and a 1 hour group lesson on swinging last September at a work event. I signed up for lessons in a women's group recently, this will go on indefinitely I guess. The lesson cadence is every Thursday and then every other Monday we get instruction while playing some holes on the course. You pay on a monthly basis, so I assume I'll just keep going throughout the season but we'll see. I preferred this option to others where it's just a set 4 or 5 lessons which is what I've seen the most options for. It feels like I'll need way more than that to really get going.
Lesson #1
It turned out to be a beautiful day to be outside, finally! Class was fun, we worked on putting and chipping. I need a lot of practice, I’m surely not a natural. IT was like I got worse the more I tried chipping. To start I was getting the balls up in the air and into the target nets, and then it all fell apart and I kept grounding them..
There were 9 women in my class and 2 instructors. We were only on the putting green today, but even that is picturesque. I look forward to when I get to see more of the course. Next week we’ll be on the driving range.
Lesson #2
We were on the driving range this time and worked with a 9 iron, a 7 iron, and a driver. I loved my driver, it was so much fun when I’d get a good straight shot with it. That definitely wasn’t all of them, but a few in particular felt so nice! I most often was hitting right and the tiniest turn of my club to square it up would make all the difference. Shocked me every time. The irons were much more finicky for me, I was having issues with hitting the ground instead of my ball. It’s amazing how tiny little tweaks can make a huge difference in how you hit the ball and where it goes. I see much practice in my future.. it’s nice having someone right there in class to breakdown what you’re doing after each swing. I plan to start using my net at home too, so we’ll see how that goes.
My Thursday classes are supposed to be an hour, but so far we’ve gone long each time. It’s great, though my hands get a bit sore from gripping for so long. My left hand was fine with a glove today, but one finger on my right hand was starting to blister. I’m hoping that’s something that goes away with time and practice.
Monday we’re going to have instruction on a couple of holes on the course, super excited for that. I’ve never been on a real course before. I wonder how long it’ll be until I feel ready to play 9 holes etc.
I think I’m already hooked..
At Home Practice Setup
I bought a really cheap, but very popular, putting green on Amazon to play with at home. I also had someone give me a net (along with a ton of balls, tees, and a ball picker upper contraption that I'm now very thankful for) for outside and I purchased a small hitting mat so our grass doesn't meet the same fate as the grass at the driving range haha. The net is especially fun, it'll be a great lunchtime activity working from home and allows me a lot more practice time than if I had to drive to the range constantly.
Course Instruction #1
Yesterday we went on the course for the first time. We broke into 2 groups of 4 ladies and 1 instructor and off we went. Right from the get go I was happy to be doing this for the things you don't necessarily think about, for example I now know how to strap my golf bag to a cart and how to drive said cart every which way you can over a course it seems. I also know that the pub onsite will give people adult beverages in a lidded cup to take out on the course, though I didn't partake this time haha. Seriously though, I can't imagine going on the course to start without someone really experienced to guide you, but that might just be me. I much prefer to have someone hold my hand to start things like this to get comfortable. I had absolutely no idea what I was doing, and having instruction and feedback for each shot along with suggestions on clubs and swing choice was super valuable to me. I also had the opportunity to ask a lot of questions on both technique and how people play together.
The first tee off my instructor recommended a wood or hybrid club, I hadn't yet even used any of my hybrids but decided to try out my 5. That's the only time I hit with it, but I got a great hit and it went straight and a good distance so I was pleased. I also broke my first tee, which I'm told will happen a great deal more as we go on. Now I understand why people have so many tees, previously I was like why do I need more than 1 or 2??? After that it was a lot of chipping and putting it seemed, none of which I did great at. I had one or two chip shots that I liked a lot and then a bunch not so much. We did one tee off also with drivers and that wasn't my best. It was at a spot where we were on the downhill side of a slope hitting up to the green, and I ended up hitting the ground before my ball. That's something I noticed a lot yesterday, the course is such a different beast than the putting green and driving range where things are pretty flat and consistent. Out on the course there is suddenly taller grass and hills and tiny slopes around the hole that I have a really hard time discerning but make a big difference on how the ball rolls etc. There are just SO MANY variables to the terrain, never mind the very long way I have to go before I wrap my head around my swing.
All in all it was really fun though, and somehow both harder and easier than I'd imagined to start playing.. if that makes sense. I didn't lose any balls or end up in any traps, learned a lot about strategy, rules, etiquette on the course, and had a few good shots.. all positives. Oh and some spots on the course are really beautiful. I didn't get to take them in much because I was so focused on what we were doing, but I do look forward to enjoying that part of golf courses more someday. Negative was that I had some really crappy shots and I can definitely see how it will be a really frustrating game just like everyone says! lol I have so so much to learn. I love learning new things in general it's kind of an addiction of mine I think, but it also conflicts with my desire to already be proficient at my new hobby so I can just enjoy it without floundering so much.
Recap
I've never played golf on an actual course before. The extent of my past experience has been some sporadic driving range visits growing up (of which I had no idea what I was doing), mini golf which I love but am horrible at, and a 1 hour group lesson on swinging last September at a work event. I signed up for lessons in a women's group recently, this will go on indefinitely I guess. The lesson cadence is every Thursday and then every other Monday we get instruction while playing some holes on the course. You pay on a monthly basis, so I assume I'll just keep going throughout the season but we'll see. I preferred this option to others where it's just a set 4 or 5 lessons which is what I've seen the most options for. It feels like I'll need way more than that to really get going.
Lesson #1
It turned out to be a beautiful day to be outside, finally! Class was fun, we worked on putting and chipping. I need a lot of practice, I’m surely not a natural. IT was like I got worse the more I tried chipping. To start I was getting the balls up in the air and into the target nets, and then it all fell apart and I kept grounding them..
There were 9 women in my class and 2 instructors. We were only on the putting green today, but even that is picturesque. I look forward to when I get to see more of the course. Next week we’ll be on the driving range.
Lesson #2
We were on the driving range this time and worked with a 9 iron, a 7 iron, and a driver. I loved my driver, it was so much fun when I’d get a good straight shot with it. That definitely wasn’t all of them, but a few in particular felt so nice! I most often was hitting right and the tiniest turn of my club to square it up would make all the difference. Shocked me every time. The irons were much more finicky for me, I was having issues with hitting the ground instead of my ball. It’s amazing how tiny little tweaks can make a huge difference in how you hit the ball and where it goes. I see much practice in my future.. it’s nice having someone right there in class to breakdown what you’re doing after each swing. I plan to start using my net at home too, so we’ll see how that goes.
My Thursday classes are supposed to be an hour, but so far we’ve gone long each time. It’s great, though my hands get a bit sore from gripping for so long. My left hand was fine with a glove today, but one finger on my right hand was starting to blister. I’m hoping that’s something that goes away with time and practice.
Monday we’re going to have instruction on a couple of holes on the course, super excited for that. I’ve never been on a real course before. I wonder how long it’ll be until I feel ready to play 9 holes etc.
I think I’m already hooked..
At Home Practice Setup
I bought a really cheap, but very popular, putting green on Amazon to play with at home. I also had someone give me a net (along with a ton of balls, tees, and a ball picker upper contraption that I'm now very thankful for) for outside and I purchased a small hitting mat so our grass doesn't meet the same fate as the grass at the driving range haha. The net is especially fun, it'll be a great lunchtime activity working from home and allows me a lot more practice time than if I had to drive to the range constantly.
Course Instruction #1
Yesterday we went on the course for the first time. We broke into 2 groups of 4 ladies and 1 instructor and off we went. Right from the get go I was happy to be doing this for the things you don't necessarily think about, for example I now know how to strap my golf bag to a cart and how to drive said cart every which way you can over a course it seems. I also know that the pub onsite will give people adult beverages in a lidded cup to take out on the course, though I didn't partake this time haha. Seriously though, I can't imagine going on the course to start without someone really experienced to guide you, but that might just be me. I much prefer to have someone hold my hand to start things like this to get comfortable. I had absolutely no idea what I was doing, and having instruction and feedback for each shot along with suggestions on clubs and swing choice was super valuable to me. I also had the opportunity to ask a lot of questions on both technique and how people play together.
The first tee off my instructor recommended a wood or hybrid club, I hadn't yet even used any of my hybrids but decided to try out my 5. That's the only time I hit with it, but I got a great hit and it went straight and a good distance so I was pleased. I also broke my first tee, which I'm told will happen a great deal more as we go on. Now I understand why people have so many tees, previously I was like why do I need more than 1 or 2??? After that it was a lot of chipping and putting it seemed, none of which I did great at. I had one or two chip shots that I liked a lot and then a bunch not so much. We did one tee off also with drivers and that wasn't my best. It was at a spot where we were on the downhill side of a slope hitting up to the green, and I ended up hitting the ground before my ball. That's something I noticed a lot yesterday, the course is such a different beast than the putting green and driving range where things are pretty flat and consistent. Out on the course there is suddenly taller grass and hills and tiny slopes around the hole that I have a really hard time discerning but make a big difference on how the ball rolls etc. There are just SO MANY variables to the terrain, never mind the very long way I have to go before I wrap my head around my swing.
All in all it was really fun though, and somehow both harder and easier than I'd imagined to start playing.. if that makes sense. I didn't lose any balls or end up in any traps, learned a lot about strategy, rules, etiquette on the course, and had a few good shots.. all positives. Oh and some spots on the course are really beautiful. I didn't get to take them in much because I was so focused on what we were doing, but I do look forward to enjoying that part of golf courses more someday. Negative was that I had some really crappy shots and I can definitely see how it will be a really frustrating game just like everyone says! lol I have so so much to learn. I love learning new things in general it's kind of an addiction of mine I think, but it also conflicts with my desire to already be proficient at my new hobby so I can just enjoy it without floundering so much.
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