I play a little golf. I'm pretty poor. I don't play enough to be any good consistently.

I don't mind, but I want to get to the ability where I can hit the ball cleanly, a reasonable distance, pretty consistently, and where I can putt within a sensible number of strokes.

Basically, I'm looking to get good enough to be able to play the game properly, so that I can enjoy it. Even if I'm not particularly good.

I don't want to give it too much time though. So I'd need to build a basic functioning swing that didn't need too much frequent practice to keep it competent.



Can I learn a decent swing on my own (I'm thinking back garden and a practice net) or would I need lessons?

Can I hope to become a reasonable putter on my carpet at home?


Thanks

You answered all of your own questions, yes, a outdoor net and mat is a must, when I get tense on the cpu or phone, I go out side and wack 30 or 40. I putt on my carpet all the time with my Jack Russell chasing down the ball, and he brings it back to me an drops it at my feet, auto ball return machine. Read the books and magazines, hit the driving range, and find some pals to play with, who are better, but who will help you advance. Its like pool, the more you put into it, the better you get. If you don't plan to spend much time at it, then don't expect to be real good at it.

Putting on carpet has its benefits. In hotels, putt into a glass, or lay a dollar bill on the floor. I have a Jack Russell to chase my ball down. I have one of these devices when you putt into it, it kicks the ball back to you. You can't practice curves or slope, but you can work on hitting the ball pure with an upstroke hit and work on getting an overspin roll on the ball.

Excellent, thanks.

I'm happy not to spend much time at it, and not to be very good. So long as I can be good enough to play 'properly'.


As I see it there are a lot of different things in the world you could try to be good at, so sometimes you have to have a sense of priorities and pick your battles!

Exactly, and mine were golf and pool. Golf during the day, pool at night.

I, like you, was never even competent enough to break 90 without taking dozens of Mulligans and not bothering to count lost balls.

However, I had a job, once; that put me in a lot of stress. So after work, I would go to the driving range across from work and hit 200 balls a day. I did this for 4 years in a row, playing on an actual course only rarely. When I did start playing regularly, again, I would find myself even or 1 under par on the 5th hole (before stating to drink and end up close to 90 after 8 beers.)

So, if you want to play better, practice a lot more than you play; something like hitting 25 practice shots for every real shot on a golf course. I guarentee that you will get better.

Exactly, every man, has to find his spot on the tree of life, and settle in on a limb and be happy many others are above him. Most of them, are unhappy because they spend all there time climbing up. What they do not know, is no one reaches the top. The higher the monkey climbs, the more he shows his ass. The few that do, reach the top, are there a very short while and the trip down is a real doozer.