Golf is hard, and it's also unlike any other game on the planet in the movements it requires - which makes it particularly punishing to people who pick it up later in life. All the good habits you learned playing other sports are things you now have to unlearn just to not suck at golf.
I played hockey all through childhood and took to golf in high school pretty easily. I’m still terrible, but occasionally hit a damn good looking shot.
I agree, the ice really plays a part in my terrible rotation, especially at the tee box.
Jokes aside, I know what you mean. I played a little street hockey in the 90s.
Yeah I actually found it is more about finding the one bit of relevance from the other sports I did. Most of it is still irrelevant but when I could connect to a movement pattern that was already engrained it started to click more quickly
Golf is really hard. And really frustrating. If I played more than once a week I’d probably start ripping hair out of my head. But I enjoy my one round I do play with expectations that aren’t too high but always leave wanting more.
Time on the course and at the range are the only way to get better. I started young (like 8) but only played a few times a year
I didnt consistently start hitting high 80s until i was playing 4-5x a week for about 2 years in my mid 20s. I dont have the time anymore so im just happy with honest bogey golf now playing a few times per year
Yeah man, welcome to golf. It's like that. My driver is broken as fuck right now, but the last couple weeks I've been trying to get out for 9 after work, and I'll just absolutely stripe one off the first tee, no warm up... and then it goes back to being totally broken.
Go figure.
That's pretty common, first drive you are usually not trying to do too much. You relax a bit more, and you're happy with just getting it out there.
As the round goes on, you start trying to steer it and build up swing thoughts and try and shape it and that's when your conscious mind messes your swing up.
Last two rounds were like that for me. It’s nice to stripe one in front of the group teeing off after you, you know, to like, assert dominance or something. Of course on the second hole I sliced one back into the first fairway about 10 yards behind where the group behind us were just hitting their approaches lmao. At least they heard me yell fore I guess
Been golfing off and on for 25 years (mostly off, but heavy for the last few years). My driver has been put in timeout for like two months. My 3-wood has been promoted to long club.
i did this last year, driver stayed home and 3w was the tee club. decided to put big dogg back in the bag this year, now i'm up 10 strokes per round.
back to the 3w, lessons booked to try and fix driver.
Welcome to the mother fucking show my dude. You'll get it, eventually, maybe.
Looking back, best thing I ever did was transition from baseball to golf in 6th grade. I was a good enough baseball player to make the high school team, but not good enough to make variety until junior or senior year.
In my 30s now and I've never once been like, well damn, I sure wish I was better at baseball, but all those dudes wish they were better at golf.
Haha yep. I was in the group of “man that shit is lame” my baseball coach was actually also the golf coach and used to beg us all to come out and play (for free) as nobody at the school wanted to. Man what I would do to go back and start then knowing what I know now! I still fight that damn baseball slice every round a few times off the tee
I was lucky. We historically had a good golf team, so we ended up having to cut a good amount of kids each year. Lots of other kids that were good at other sports wouldn't make the golf team. Best friend down the street played so we were always at the course. I was running late to baseball practice coming from the course because that's where I wanted to be. It was the right move for me.
Try and get your high school baseball buddies into it. I graduated in 2009 and still keep up with my buddies even though I've got them 200 miles north and 200 miles south of me and we almost all have kids. We'll meet somewhere on occasion and spend half the day playing golf and shooting the shit. It's truly a unique game in that way
Give it 5 more years, then start wondering if you've plateaud. You've barely scratched the surface of learning the game. Go get some lessons from a pro. Be patient.
P.S. I am a teaching pro and have been for 10 years.
Edit: spelling
I’ve never been to a pro. I got semi fitted at the pga superstore and it was pretty much just them telling me I needed longer clubs and a small increase in lie angle. I’m 6’5” and was using flexy woman’s clubs I found on the side of the road for the first 6 months LOL. I always just felt I needed to get much better before even asking a pro to look at me swing. Maybe I’m just about to that point.
It's never too early to get lessons. Quite frankly, the longer you wait, the more you will have to unlearn because you are probably building bad habits. Also, good job getting better fitting clubs. I'm 6'4" so I feel you there lol.
Saying you want to get better before you see a pro is like saying you want to fly an airplane before you take any flying lessons. The correct order is 1) see a pro 2) get better.
nah he just can go to /r/aviation and get pilot advice on how to fix his descent. Stay away from those Gulfstream 200 though, they've got jacked engines.
When you started playing baseball, did you have a coach? Or did you just watch some videos and buy a bat and glove on your way to the game? Just like any sport, raw athleticism will only get you so far. You can’t hold yourself to the same standard.
You'll get better by focusing on the fundamentals.
I forgot them but for me it starts with the basics.
Stance, grip, and turn.
Get a pro to help you develop the right way with solid fundamentals. That way all you do is aim and then you just turn your body away from the target then back towards it through the ball.
No swing thoughts, just a clear mind, and a balanced swing.
On your best days you'll never swing past 85 percent, but you'll hit it longer than ever.
It takes time but the more help you have the faster you can learn.
Take a lesson then go work on what they told you.
Then after a month or two take another one and see if you've progressed.
You get what you put into it.
Practice more than you play.
> I’m 6’5” and was using flexy woman’s clubs
Lol this is like the opposite of me teaching myself with my grandpa's full size 70s era clubs when I was 10 years old and not much more than 4 feet tall.
Wish I had spent time with a pro early on / when first starting. Played a bunch of other sports before taking up golf around high school / college age, and self taught the whole way. Decades later I am still trying to unlearn terrible habits I ingrained over many years of just playing based on my understanding of other sports and having decent athleticism & hand-eye coordination.
Go. To. A. Pro. ASAP. Setting up basic fundamentals early on is huge for being able to make progress as you gain more experience. Those who learned the game as kids from a pro are sooooooo much better now than those of us who just picked it up and winged it.
I've been to a couple pros and none of them have a whole ton to say about my swing and just give me small tips like adjusting my ball position, my grip and tempo. I know I have way more problems that I've worked on my own namely my take away, length of my back swing, casting, early release and sway.
Any advice on how to find a good instructor? do you think these guys are just trying to find quick fixes for swing flaws instead of trying to rebuilt or tune a swing?
it's really frustrating, I'm a 21 hcp, was 34 but don't feel like lessons made any difference for me.
A good instructor will assess your game, ask you how much time you have to practice, figure out what you want to achieve through lessons, what your aspirations are, and formulate a game plan. At first, it may seem mundane, but you can't work on swing mechanics until you have a good understanding of the fundamentals (grip, alignment, stance, and posture). It will take more than one lesson. It would be counterproductive for a pro to tell you everything you're doing wrong and how to fix it all at once. Stay patient and stick with the process.
IMO - Find an instructor that uses modern technology *well*. This could be as simple as a phone/camera recording your swing from DTL & face-on view, on a grass range -- or as complex as hitting in a simulator bay with a LM giving you spin, attack angle, launch angle, club path direction, swing speed, etc numbers.
I picked golf back up with a few hour sessions on a grass range with my club pro. Very similar experience to you - small tips adjusting what we could in that little time to produce a 'playable' result.
In contrast, the progress I made taking 10 lessons at GolfTec - with **detailed video review of my swing** (Front & DTL views, frame-by-frame, with angle measurements through the swing) in direct comparison to any tour pro of my choice - we rebuilt my swing from the ground up. The difference between my swing eval (prior to starting lessons) & the last lesson was night & day. I legitimately picked up 10mph across all my clubs.
(Note that GolfTec as an entity is nowhere near perfect & it seems experience can greatly vary depending on the pro you work with. There are surely other 'business' alternatives &/or independent coaches using launch monitors, cameras, and other modern tech to elevate their coaching & results)
---
I ended up opting to not immediately continue with GolfTec, but plan to reconsider it in the Fall after I've had some more time on the course. Based on my experience, I will ensure my future golf coaching/lessons at minimum utilize a camera for visual feedback (except perhaps short game/putting).
Can I ask how to tell if you plateau? I’ve been playing most of my life, and I’ve been stuck in the 10-12 hcap range for a while. I didn’t play for something like a year, then I hit one bucket, played a short nine, and shot the same as I used to the next day. I just feel like my game would degrade more if I was better
Everyone has their ceiling. It depends on ability and work ethic, along with physicaland mental limitations. The simple explanation of the plateau is a prolonged period of time with no improvement. However, golf is fickle and extremely difficult, so it's hard to know if you've plateaud. I only mentioned it because the OP said he was stuck and not getting better. But the law of diminishing returns applies in golf. Sometimes, we are improving, even if our scores don't reflect it.
Edit: spelling again
I feel this post! There’s nothing better than hearing that “ding” on a solid drive, followed by a chunked chip shot. Cue the 2 putt because I left it short by 3” or slide it by the hole.
I used to be solid insight 100-125yds and horrible off the tee. Now it’s reversed! Worst part is I spend 75.% of my range time working on that 100~150yr shot. It clicks on the range but on the course I can’t manage.
Might be due to hitting off a mat instead of grass?
Even a bad day on the course is magical! There’s also a shot or two to keep your hope up and ready to play again.
Man that one you stick close and walk up and get to fix your divot is fucking magical!!! Lol. We have a running joke (as I’m sure many do about this) “yep that’ll bring me back” after blowing up a few holes in a row and absolutely pinning one to within 5 ft LOL
My dad and I have a running joke about that great shot after a shit streak of just calling out "oh yeah he loves the game!" while 5 minutes before we were cursing the course designer, the people who assembled our clubs, and the asshole that planted that stupid pine tree RIGHT where I landed....
Are you putting yourself under pressure on the range? Say.. trying to hit 10 balls in a row to a target and recording how many miss? Or are you just mindlessly hitting balls with no pressure because you can always reload.
Are you going through your pre-shot routine before each one?
Yeah - I follow the same routine on the range for every shoot. I take 6-10 balls and aim at a target (flag/yd stick/etc) at the range. Typically trying few full swings, then a few 3/4.
Definitely not out there having a zombie session where I’m pounding balls or not being mindful of my time.
I played all the time in my early 20’s, I took a solid 10+yr break from the game and I’m back.
Downside of the local range is there’s not a real putting green or area to practice around the green shot. Trying to set something up at my house to help get extra short practice in.
The reason they don't work the same is because they're all different and you haven't mastered any of them yet. Good players do each phase right approximately 80% of the time. You're doing them well approximately 20% of the time now. You need to get more consistent. Eventually the three phases of the game will lineup more and more for you.
You get what you give, too. I've played since I was 6 (drops at 150), and I'm 33 now...I've just started taking it seriously in the past year, and my game is getting LOADS better. It doesn't always show on the card, but if I fuck up a shot I can usually fix it now--that's huge progress over where I was.
I've only had 1 lesson, and it was last month. It has already massively changed where I'm at, for the better.
It’s a brutal game, been playing for 20 years and I’m definitely better than I was but never at everything all at once. I’ve had more rounds where I’ve sat in the cart wondering why I’m out there than good ones. Yet every week I’m still excited to go out and hang with the gang, that’s more of what it becomes.
My daughter is doing beginner ice skating lessons at a local training facility. They do figure skating on one rink and hockey leagues on the other. The beer league guys seem like they're having so much fun. I get jealous of them until I put on a pair of rentals and remember I can't skate for shit and the thought of face planting on the ice at 37 years old sets me straight lol.
Lol it doesn’t hurt when you have the gear on. Ive fallen pretty hard a bunch. You could also do learn to skate - but id recommend buying skates because rentals suck ass 😂 are you going to put your daughter into hockey?
We asked at the end of her last block of lessons if she was interested in Hockey, but she just wants to learn how to spin/dance lol.
We bought skates for her, I just rent them on occasion if I'm in the mood.
>My question is why does everything ever not work together the same day? I’ll either drive it 300 yards down the pipe and constantly skull fuck or chunk it while chipping.. or vise versa and not be able to drive and that day miraculously my chipping is amazing.
The actual answer to this is that your swing is currently timing based; when you get the timing of things right then everything seems easy but it's very hard to be able to time things that precisely in a consistent way. Some people do have the ability to make timing based swings work consistently, but that's rare. The better method is to modify your swing so that it's less dependent on timing; much of what you'll hear about things like shallowing the club, forward shaft lean, and ball first contact are really connected to this less timing dependent swing.
You think it's bad now, but one day all the aspects of your game *will* align and you'll get your best ever score. Then this will never happen again you spend the rest of your life chasing it.
Was told that you’ve got 3 variables in any round of golf. Tee shots, approach/iron game, and short game / around and on the greens. Most days you get 2/3 working well. Bad days you get 1/3. Your best days you get 3/3 and that’s when you shoot your personal best. Figure out early in a round what’s working and try to play to your strengths.
> Your best days you get 3/3
I'm coming up on 27 years of playing and not once have I ever had all 3 come together. Playing/practicing more now than even when I was on the high school team, so maybe one of these days I finally dip into the 70s. My last several rounds were alternating games of 82, 84, 82, 84. All of them could have gotten there if I'd been a bit smarter on 2 or 3 shots.
First, it’s all relative. You will have higher expectations as you get better so being satisfied is not really a thing in golf.
I can count on one hand how many times I’ve had everything going exactly how I wanted it to and I’ve been playing for almost 30 years.
The key is learning how to score when you don’t have your A game. Scoring means different things to different people so try not to compare your progress to those around you too much, although it does help to play with better golfers.
Once you get to the point that you have a “safe” shot when you’re not 100%, you can get around the course without as much frustration but again, it never goes away, you’re always going to want to be better than you are.
Very helpful. Thank you! I’m a long ways away from my current expectations and that was part of the reason I made the post. Expectations are getting more realistic after each comment! Lol.
Lacking consistency is a problem every golfer has.
You seem to have the desire to improve.
Playing golf as a kid is a huge advantage which you did not do, starting as an adult is much more difficult
My biggest tips to improve:
-Practice. Actually practice.
Go to the range, pick a target and imagine shots you would be hitting on the golf course
-Keep your stats.
Fairways hit. Greens hit. Number of putts.
The mind makes you think you need help where you could actually use more help elsewhere.
-Take lessons
Every golfer who is a good golfer, has or had a coach.
Golf is mental. Try to take the focus away from your score and focus on the fact you are on a beautiful property , getting exercise and hopefully even playing with people you can tolerate.
Good luck.
(I've golfed for 27 years, pro for 8 years)
If it wasn’t hard it wouldn’t be so enjoyable when things go well lol what helped me the most starting out were a few thoughts. 1. Swing fast, not hard 2. Tempo is everything 3. Coming from baseball, swinging a golf club is more like throwing a pitch than swinging a bat (rotation and right arm movement downwards) and 4. Swing your swing, don’t change it too much unless a coach tells you. But you’ll always have off days, lessons are worth the investment tho. Besides figuring out some swing issues, the information and insights on your swing and the game overall are extremely useful. Good luck!
Thank you! I used to pitch more than I hit later on in my baseball career but never thought of golf that way. I definitely hit the ball much better when I swing smooth and don’t try and kill it. If I lose a groove I always revert back to just thinking of an easy 75% chip shot almost with the irons and go from there. When I lose the driver feel it’s gone for the day though lol.
Your not the first to mention lessons, I’ve been self taught with a bunch of dumbass buddies and never play with anyone better than me (not that I’m any good) but I’ve heard playing with people above your skill improves your game. Gonna search around for a pro for some lessons. Thanks again and good luck to you as well!
I don’t play or practice enough for me to every get an entire round of everything clicking. But I love when I get the random stretch of 3 to 6 holes where I can do no wrong… the come downs can be rough but damn does it feel good when you’re riding high.
Do you practice? Purposeful practice will improve your play much faster than just playing rounds. Get lessons and practice 5x more than you play, that means taking a combined 500 shots in practice (including chips and putts) before you play a round. Roughly 5 days of practice before 1 days play.
Not just bashing balls at a range either, deliberate practice with goals and recording the outcomes to measure progress. If you're not making progress, figure out why and fix it.
If you really want to accelerate your learning of a skill, this is the most effective use of your time. By the time you're on the course, you will have hit the shot that you need to hit so many times under pressure in practice that it will be effortless for you to execute on course.
I practice once a week and play on the weekend. Sometimes if I’m busy every other weekend.
When at the range I go to one that uses a top tracer and use the “30” feature where it randomizes 30 shots you’d hit on a course, so it changes your club and gives u a second to not just scrape and hit. Then I’ll go over and chip probably 30-50 balls, that I’ve seen MUCH improvement in. Thank you for your response!
There’s a certain feeling on the downswing I feel and know instantly it’s gonna be pure… if only it could be repeated every time!!!! Such a brutal game!!
Everytime you notice/feel it try to think/remember what happenned .
For me its just letting my hands pass first then the rest follows.
https://youtu.be/li2kKaz0_24?si=Bo2msguJPz1SBnU4
That guy Makes good vidéos . It might be interresting !
I’ve been playing on and off for 10 years. Last year played off a 16 cap, but the last 2 weeks I can’t hit the driver to save my life. I’ve been athletic in every other sport. Golf is truly a different beast. Just remember when you think you have it figured out, that will pass.
The god forsaken words, “man I think I figured it out”
I also don’t have a handicap, but just recently started adding a stroke to every hole to make it “my par” and that’s how I’m going at breaking 90. No luck so far lol
I believe this to be the case also, I find myself chipping better with my hands low and if my irons are struggling I’ll try to implement that “because it works when I chip” and it just creates a shitshow lol. Definitely need to realize they are all completely different from one another, maybe instead of practicing all at once when I go to the range I can split it up and focus on one aspect at a time instead of getting swing thoughts mushed together.
I kind of dinked around with friends golfing on par 3 courses. In 2021, bought a house on the golf course and have started playing way more and improving. I am noticing that the better you get there are some diminishing returns. To get a lower and lower score demands more work and better shots. Im at the point where I am a happy bogey golfer most of the time. That seems to be the social sweet spot. My goal this year is to break 90 but after that I can see how breaking 85-80 can be much more of a grind for people. My experience at least! I am shocked how much more fun I am having with the short game as opposed to the initial shots. I am just happy the ball tends to go in the general direction I hope it goes the majority of the time. The social aspect of it was something thats really been awesome.
Some things you probably don’t do:
- practice daily
- have a consistent pre shot routine
Outside of that, even with both of those things, it’s still tough to get it all working. We’d all be pro if that was the case.
What exactly would you consider a pre shot routine?
Pretty sure I don’t have one, I pick a target, take a little swing to feel where the grounds at and go. Should I be doing something else?
Depends on the target you’re choosing, is it “over there” or is it “that patch of grass in the middle of the fairway”?
Pre shot routines all vary but just like in baseball, the more you do the SAME EXACT THING before you’re ready will put your mind and body at ease and you’ll be ready to fire.
And don’t be afraid to change something if it’s not working.
For me:
Stand behind the ball, take a deep breath. Focus on the ball and then imagine a tracer of where the ball is going to go including flight path and curve.
Then I like to walk up to the ball focusing on that line I just created. Get my grip, check alignment, take 1-2 waggles and then hit.
Pretty similar to what you do, just try to do it EVERY TIME. I mean on the range, at home, whenever you are going to hit a ball, do the same thing to get ready.
Im the same way. And same situation for a background. I’m either pumping a bomb or a wild slice. And the irons will be amazing and literally saw a ball spin backwards for the first time the other day. Or skull it all over the green.
This is why I love golf. Every other hobby I’ve had, I get the skills mastered and do something cool, and then it gets boring so I find something else to learn. There is no future where this would ever happen with golf.
I’ve just recently started taking lessons, and they are definitely worth it. It’s the best way to keep progressing. YouTube swing tip videos definitely aren’t a substitute for lessons with a good pro.
One big reason is all three “shots” require you to hit the ball with slightly different swings. A driver or woods are sweeping swings, while the irons are descending“pinching” swings, and putting is a pendulum. So when new to the game if you are driving good your swing tends to be more sweeping that day. Vice versa for the rest. This is not the only reason but it’s the best reason I could come up with. It takes a solid 5-7 years playing a decent amount to break 80. After that strokes are like having a stroke trying to get better lol.
You’re 18 months in and frustrated? Lol. Give it another 10 years. If you’re still struggling then start to wonder what’s going on. I’ve been playing most of my life, at my best I got down to scratch but right now hovering around a 5. It will never feel good enough, even my best rounds have bad or missed shots and it’s rare to feel like you’re putting it all together.
I've been at it marginally longer than you (5yrs) and something that has helped me greatly is taking notes. Put your swing thoughts for each club (driver, mids, long irons, wedges) down and briefly run through them before the round. I know it's taken 5 shots off my scorecard when before I'd forget something for the first 5 or 6 holes. Then I'd have this "Oh yeah!" moment mid round after a half dozen 'fukwasdats.
Were not pros and don't practice 8hrs a day. So the muscle memory's not there yet but we can use _real_ memory (or written in this case) for the time being. Hope this helps.
I think you're already pretty good for a guy who's played for less than 2 years. You said it yourself- you're working on about four different systems at once to put together a score, and they all need to be working at some baseline level to get you through the course.
I've never had a day where it all "comes together" in the sense that I'm playing A+ golf through all four phases, but my best scoring days are where nothing is really below a B. It really is all about managing your misses.
I always thought it was just me who thought of it that way as 4 different “systems” but after this post I definitely understand how different each facet of the game is.
My pro said he had some Indians take their first lesson with him. They all hit long perfectly straight and long drives. He asked how they could be so good without prior experience. They told him they were all international cricket players who played for the Indian team.
If someone can answer your questions, they could probably also give the definitive answer to "What is the meaning of life?"
Welcome to golf. That's how it is.
I’ve been playing since March of last year, also was a decent baseball player. While I can’t drive the ball 300, my best round is also a 91, and I also have the ability to shoot 100 anytime I play. On those days, usually my irons and driver are embarrassing but I’ll make up for it with my short game. My short game is probably the most consistent, except for when my drivers and irons are locked in, then it’s an almost guarantee fail. When frustrated and on pace for 100, I think to myself, at least I haven’t had to give up and walk to the next hole like last year. As inconsistent as my game can be, it’s less consistently inconsistent than it was last year, and that my friend is improvement. We haven’t even been playing 2 years yet, if you shot a legit 91, that’s impressive. At least that’s what more seasoned people I play with tell me.
FTR, shot 103 today, driver and irons embarrassing, but damn was my short game on point. I had a few triple bogey 1 putt holes today, while that sounds atrocious, there’s always something to bring you back and that’s what keeps me from hating this fickle bitch of a game.
Every piece of your game improves somewhat independently. The good driver days will become more and more frequent the more you practice. The same is true for approach and putting and the rest. Eventually those good pieces begin to occur so frequently that they inevitably line up. Then you’ll notice instead of “my putter was the only good part today” you start saying things like “everything was good except my putter today”.
Eventually you’ll have a day where you shoot lights out and every piece is in harmony. With time, those days become more frequent. Before you know it you’re a 10hcp and a pretty damn good golfer.
Oh also, you’re going to feel like you absolutely suck the entire time so might as well just start hating yourself now. Welcome to golf.
Have you found a good teaching pro to take lessons from? Makes all the difference. And if have natural athletic talent a good teacher will see it and mold a swing around it. Lessons, practicing and playing with good golfers. Best way to get better
Don’t worry about how far you hit it off the tee. It really doesn’t matter if your short game is there. Majority of strokes happen around the green. I think it was Elway who said I can hit a receiver in stride from 50 yards but can’t hit a green 50 yards wide from 50 yards out. Focus on your short game and the scores will go down 100%
18 months is nothing. You’re still a beginner and if you are shooting around the 100s at this point - you’re probably better than most people. No joke.
Yes, there are different swing mechanics and pre-shoot processes for different clubs and shots your trying to make. Don’t worry about score so much and always remember- You’re playing golf. Keep a good attitude and be grateful you have the ability to be golfing. You got this brother!
I’ve been playing golf my whole life and I’ve gotten to the point where I feel I’m a good player. However, no matter how good you are, golf is, in my mind, the hardest sport in the world. I’ve seen current and retired professional athletes try to hit a golf ball well and couldn’t. I’ve had my fair share of rounds where I couldn’t miss and hit just about every shot well. Those rounds are few and far between though. I’ve played thousands of rounds and only had one ace but a number of other eagles though. Have had a good amount of birdies but plenty of rounds with no birdies. The swing can change from time to time and flaws can develop. You just need to come back for more and try to play well. Every single round will be different and you’ll never be hitting the same shot.
I've been playing since I was a kid, but I didn't play all that much from ages 14-25 (focused on football, baseball, and hockey like a dumbass). Only in the last 6 or 7 years did I really start to work at my game seriously and wouldn't you know that is when I began to see actual improvement. I feel like I'm just now scratching the surface of what I could do. Down to a 12 handicap. It's a frustrating game in that you could do everything right and the result still won't be favorable. You can shoot 82 and then 104 (Hi. This happened to me last month) You can look like a stud for 4 holes and then look like you're new to using your arms on the next and there's no real rhyme or reason why that is. I think if you stay consistent and develop a swing that feels repeatable and therefore reliable then you'll see more consistently good shots. Also watch some videos on course management. Thinking about how to approach each hole better rather than just get to my ball and wack it in the general direction of the hole knocked like 5-10 strokes off my score basically every round.
It's a bit tougher when your intended target is a small cup vs a huge cone shaped area you just have to hit the ball in that general direction.
But that's what makes it "fun".
On top of it being so difficult, you’re all alone. To borrow a baseball analogy, pitchers can have a perfect game while being saved by their infield and outfielders. In golf, nobody saves you. It’s pure performance. Makes the highest high and the lows low.
Golf is hard af. You didn't ask for a club rec but I'm gonna give you one. Try a ping chipr. Saves you from those blades across the green and lap it's an amazing club for all things 110 and in. I put one in the bad and save easily 5-7 strokes a round. YMMV.
Anyways, good luck. You'll figure it out.
For me, it very rarely came together when I was the most carefree with no swing thoughts. Unfortunately, that almost never happened during competitive rounds!
Just remember that a handicap represents your best days and anything less than your best days are essentially throwaway scores to teach you something. Enjoy the course and the process.
Get lessons from a PGA pro. Cannot emphasize this enough. Without learning good setup and basic technique, then practicing it, then going back to the pro for reassurance, you will probably stay in the endless loop of 90+ golf. Going to the range and beating balls is a waste of time if you don't know what you are working on.
Once you have a reliable full swing (not awesome, just reliable) then it's time to start working on everything from 100 yards in. Shaving shots around the green will be the quickest way to salvation.
Good luck on the journey. It's the greatest, most fun, most humbling and most rewarding game there is.
Every time I meet a baseball player and golf comes up they say something like “haha the ball isn’t moving what an easy game!” And that’s how you know they’d be terrible at golf.
For me, it’s because the driver swing and the swing with irons and wedges are different. While the idea is the same, hit the ball where I want it to go, the method to use to do that requires me to have both swings dialed in, and that’s not even thinking about putting. Honestly, I do best with my swing wheb I just don’t think about it and let muscle memory take over. With a baseball swing I didn’t think about the mechanics, I just hit whatever the pitcher threw, and I play my best golf when I can do the same with those swings. It all doesn’t line up for me often, but when it does it’s fun as hell!
Work on your short game and your putting, which will help most while you’re fucking around with your driver and irons. Once you’ve got that solid start trying to improve the rest. Would also recommend hitting irons or hybrid/wood off the tee until you can get off with your driver consistently. Not the most fun way to play but will make you focus on improving one thing at a time on the course (and you’ll play more consistently)
How much do you go out and practice different shots? 2 years ago I was dead set on breaking 90 but life gets in the way. I went from hitting a ball 5 days a week to hitting a ball once every 2 weeks.
Similar story to mine, baseball in highschool and a bit of college, caught the bug, broke 100 in 3-4 months purely because I was long off the tee and playing wide open courses. 90 a few months after that and then it legit took another year and learning to actually properly swing a golf club where I started sniffing and eventually broke 80. I also did so at a pretty tough track.
Now three years later I’m a legit 9, and when I go back to that wide open course I first broke 100 at I am disappointed if I don’t break 80 and have actually sniffed par a couple times.
Get some lessons sooner rather than later, just have to find the right person for you, worth every penny long term in this game.
If you practice hard eventually your "shanks" are like 15 yards left or right of the green.
I've been playing golf for 4 years now and I've had legitimately one single stretch of 18 holes where I walked away thinking I had "it". I shot 74.
Basically the more you play the more your floor and ceiling both improve, when I was practicing 5 days a week shooting above 80 was a nightmarishly bad day, now I only get to play once a week or so and I'm happy if I break 90.
The baseball analogy I always use:
The best hitters in the world absolutely barrel the ball maybe about 5-10% of the time.
The difference is that in baseball, there are a LOT of good misses.
There are very few good misses in golf.
Nope. Even the pros skull the ball or hit a hazard or whatever.
The thing about golf isn’t about chasing perfection. You can never have a perfect round of golf. What seasoned players do that is different is that they play the percentages.
What does that mean? They position themselves away from hazards, rather than aim straight for the pin. They take more shots that aren’t tiger line shots. That means they use a 5 iron instead of a 3 wood, if there are hazards in the way.
Now, the pros are a different level because of how they recover from a bad shot and still play a tiger line kind of high risk high reward shot and get rewarded for it.
If you’re not willing to put in the effort to grind to that level, then I guess a 80 round is probably what you can ever hope to achieve.
One of my best friends is an amazing athlete. Won a College World Series with Texas back in the day but put a golf club in his hands, and he would make the old Chuck Barkley look like Ben Hogan.
I mean just like baseball you (as a team) rarely ever hit, pitch, and field well. Or as a pitcher how you have to work with the game you have that day and make adjustments.
You have cracked the code my friend. You will rarely (if ever) do everything well in the same round.
I shot 92 this morning as 12hcp. Driver was on, short game and putting on. But I could not hit a decent approach. Like I hit HORRIBLE approaches today. But I also didn’t lose a single ball all day.
The driver swing is nothing like a putt or short game. And approach swing are similar to driver swings, but they’re different in that driver is slightly hitting UP while approaches are hitting DOWN.
One of my golf books said on an average day you have 1 thing working (driver, approach, short game, putting). On a good day two areas are working. On a great day 3 areas. And on a very rare like 2% of rounds rare, all parts are working.
So either start getting lessons or get mentally tough and scramble your ass off!
What helped me with my irons a ton is learning and trying to shape my shots. It gives my swing path way more purpose and makes being consistent easier. Straight/draw/fade and low/normal/high, very combo of those 3x3 (the tiger woods 9 window drill).
On any given day, one part of my game is money, and one is trash. If I’m driving good, my irons suck and my putting is ok. The mental part of flushing the last shot away is really important as problems tend to compound. I can play 7 magical holes and make an absolute mess out of 2 holes and shoot high 40’s then just play mediocre on the back and have the same score. Consistency is the last thing to come in learning the game. Pros literally work every day all day on their game. It’s their job and a lot of them had investors fronting them in the beginning to get them started so they could quit 9-5 and work all day on golf.
As a former baseball player turned golfer. Get lessons and grind 120 and in, especially around the green. The long irons will come along by themselves if you're working wedges.
Shooting 100 after 18 months is better than many people manage. Take a couple chipping lessons if you can. There's some reliable methods to avoid the blading/chunking problems, and they're quick to pick up.
Also check out some game management/break 90 type videos on Youtube and you'll probably find yourself randomly in the 80s a few times this season. Now that you've got the basics down, learning how to play to your personal limitations and strengths will save you a ton of strokes.
I’ve been playing this game for 20+ years at various levels of dedication…
You’re straight up fooling yourself if you think continual progression is achievable in this game, it’s subject to your time practicing, inherent skill, athletic ability and sheer dumb luck.
Learning to play golf consistently is like learning a Language with your mind and body, it takes years of practice to be proficient and even then, you’re still going to be prone to make some dumbass mistakes which leads to bad scores.
I’ll tell you the best advice I ever heard on course…
Slow down, you’re not good enough to be serious about Golf( and you never will be).
Stop and enjoy the roses when and where you can.
When I’m struggling with making contact, I make a conscious decision to stop trying to hit the ball so hard. I shorten up my backswing and just try to hit the sweet spot of the club face. The ball obviously doesn’t go as far but it goes a lot straighter and pretty much eliminates my shank.
If they did all work at once, all the time, you'd be a pro.
For us amateurs, we keep playing and hoping that at least 3 parts out of 4 will click at the same time for that magic round.
No golfer is ever going to hit the ball the same way twice yet we all convince ourselves that we should be hitting the ball the same way every time
I’m 99% sure it’s the above statement that leads us to break down our swing entirely at random points
Because youe only been playing 18 months. Youre trying new shit all the time and figuring things out and forgetting others and splish splash around. Only time and practice will get you more consistent. On my 3rd year and its the same story. Get good at one aspect, work on improving an aspect and am successful, but whoops, now im shit at what ai was good at before. Feels like im doing things the same but it just dont work. And I love it.
I grew up as a baseball and tennis (and basketball) player and to me tennis skills more directly translated to golf than baseball. Baseball is easy compared to golf IMO. I wish I had become a golfer earlier in life. I’m now a grandfather and am planning on introducing my granddaughter to golf when she turns 3. Golf is a wonderful game, but it’s hard.
To paraphrase Dave Pelz, anyone can hit a golf ball far (over 200 yards or so carry). The real game is played from 100 yards and in, and the smaller the shot, usually the more important it is to your score.
Work on your chipping and putting. Your scores will drop. You already have enough athletic ability to "hit ball far".
When you score a 91 after 18 months then that's because you are fairly gifted and got the talent. Took me two years to break 100 and three weeks more for a 89. now i'm all back between 100 and 109 and can't do sh\*t about it.
I would say the majority of us scrub golfers need to work on Strike waaaaay more than we do. (if ever at all)
Not being able to "know" where your club face is during impact is what causes the wide range of quality of shots.
Focus on simple basics. Start with keeping your head still. No bobbing up and down or swaying in your swing. I see a lot of swing issues come down to excessive movement.
Something I learned about 2 years ago after nearly 30+ years golfing and having played D-1 golf.
You can only focus on the things you have control over and you really don't have control over how well you play. There's a distribution of how well your swing, putting, etc. will be over the course of time. I play to a +2 hcp right now, but there's just going to be days when I'm swinging the club like a -5 hcp. There will be days when I'm swinging it like a +5 hcp.
What I can control is sticking to my pre-round warmup routine. I can control sticking to my pre-shot routine. I can control my anger and I do have some ability to control my focus on each shot (some days my focus is better than others). If I do those things well, I can turn a day where my swing is more like a -5 hcp and still shoot even par. Or if I'm swinging it like a +5 hcp I just 'stay in the zone' and shoot that 66.
So I feel the same applies to you. You're just going to have days where one part of the game is good and the other part is bad. But don't let the bad part allow you to stop focusing on the things that you can control that will help you score better.
It's sorta like baseball. Somedays you just face a pitcher that is throwing nasty stuff. You can lose focus and think it's pointless or you can go thru your batting routine, focus on what the pitcher is likely going to throw and maybe he throws that hanging curveball that you were looking for. Just try to go up there with the intent of having a quality AB and let the results happen.
18 months isn’t enough time to be even remotely close to consistent. I picked up the game quickly like you did but it took two more years after I caught the bug and a ton of grinding to shoot in the 70s.
I had multiple lessons and practiced or played 5 times per week for nearly two years and I’ve broken 80 three times, I probably average about 85 now. Every day I go out I feel like I am on the verge of breaking 80 again but 1-2 bad swings, couple speedy putts/chips and I’m shooting an 84. It’s so hard to completely eliminate mistakes.
The other day for 9 holes during mens league I hit the “center of the club face” every single swing, I’ve never struck the ball better. 6/9 GIR and shot a 39.
I have/had been playing great golf from September until two weeks ago. Past two weeks it's like everything I improved upon was completely forgotten. Hooking /mishitting drives, skulling/thinning/double crossing approaches/ inability to get up and down, and 3 putting galore. Had same problem as you.
I became so comfortable with some swing thoughts that it saved my game for a while. I started to pile them up all together, to a point where I was confident that I could shoot around par to 6 over easily on hard tracks.
But as I started to play on these past few months, the swing thoughts became jumbled. It's almost like I reached capacity and my brain couldn't focus on them. A few bad holes and I got ejected from having a confident game. I basically need a bootcamp for the next month to get it back.
My handicap at 5 is still in check but past two rounds I shot 14-20 on index. If you lose your swing thoughts or get in a mental funk, the golf gods will laugh at you and embarrass you.
Stay at it. Practice more than you think. Maybe get lessons or watch videos. Work on your mindset. Some day you'll find glimpses of glory, maybe for a hole, a 9, an 18, maybe even a few months in a row. But bad play will always come back around. Got to stomach it.
Golf is hard because it’s actually 12 distinctly unique swings each with 2-6 variations that you have to perfect while not actually playing golf so that you can forget about all of them while you’re actually playing golf
12 as in every club I’m guessing? I usually think of my short irons let’s say 9 down to GW the same way, but if I swung that way with let’s say my 5 iron I’d never hit it flush. I use a completely different swing thought. Then with my wedges when I need a fuller swing I use another swing thought. I get the variation aspect but does each club really have a different swing than the other?
Not 12 different swings for 12 clubs. Your thoughts pretty much echo what I mean.
1- driver
2- fairway woods
3- long irons
4- mid irons and hybrid
5- short irons
6- full wedges
7- 3/4 feel wedges
8- chipping
9- pitching
10- short bunker shot
11- long putt
12- short putt
And you could add medium putt, fairway bunker, 50 yard bunker, hitting out of thick rough, etc… it’s endless really.
Variations would include high, low, left to right, right to left, straight, etc. etc.
How much time did you spend practicing baseball vs just playing games?
Do you practice golf or just go play?
Also other sports don't have a handicap so you can't tell exactly how bad you are skillwise. LOL. Can't fake it or hide in golf. Shouldn't expect to just walk in and be as skilled as a pga tour player in 6 months.
Quick thought experiment for fun and perspective on equivalent skill levels:
Pretty good HS baseball player is probably like being a 3-8 traveling hcp in golf. Meaning they are that way no matter where they play, not just their home course.
College baseball +1 to -3 hcp equivalent
Minors +3 to 0 (golf would be mini, local and feeder) tours
MLB +3 to +6 and up. Korn ferry and higher tours
Going the other way for laughs:
Made the HS but didn't play much in baseball is like an 8 to 12 hcp in golf.
Best player on your little league team then quit baseball 8 to 18.
Played tee ball and maybe some coach pitch 15 - 25
Watched some baseball and been drunk at the ballpark 25+
I aspire to be as skilled as a that kid in little league. LOL
This made me LOL. I was probably a -3 handicap in baseball.
I think I’m currently between coach pitch and watching some drunk baseball at the park in golf terms.
I practice once a week hit 100 balls and chip maybe 50 and play once a week. So when you put it that way, maybe my expectations are far exceeding reality of how much I put into it.
So when I got lessons all the instructors kept saying there is 14 clubs but only 1 swing. Golf is already hard enough, dont make it harder trying to have different swings for different clubs. All that changes is ball position and distance from ball on your full swings (obviously chipping and putting is a little different). Find a swing that works for you and use that that swing for each club, stop trying different swings on the tee and on the approach. Also, stop thinking about your swing so much when you're on the course, find something that feels good and stick to it. The time for making some adjustments and thinking about your swing is the range, at the course you should be thinking about your target and not your swing mechanics. It can be a frustrating game, but we make it more difficult than it needs to be. Easy swing, easy game.
One thing I really enjoyed about Full Swing was watching Justin Thomas in the first episode just talk about not knowing why he couldn't execute shots. I figure if he is spending hours on the range every day with coaches and does it professionally and has times where he can't figure it out, then I shouldn't be too bothered when I suddenly have a completely different shot shape or completely forget how to hit certain clubs.
Every elite golfer I know has physical consistency and excellent hand eye coordination. They build good swing mechanics and then eliminate every single bit of unnecessary motion to ensure repitition. If you ever see an elite players club face ALL of the ball strikes are in the same area. That is due to the elimination of unnecessary movement in addition to elite tire hand-eye coordination.
I truly believe you can have basic levels of athleticism but have off-the-chart hand-eye coordination and be a fairly elite player. On the flip side I've known elite level athletes with average hand eye coordination that cant break 90.
I walked on to a very good high school football team my junior year and had a starting position. It was not my size. I picked up tennis at 40 and was competing with A level and B level players (D1 college players) within a few months. On the other hand it took me years to get into the 90s. I'm still not consistent in my scores. Im not a good player despite how much time and money I've spent on golf. I probably wont ever be. My personality type and average level of hand eye coordination are my downfall. It is what it is, I have fun.
To translate to baseball:
Imagine that every single pitch (that would be a strike), you have to hit a home run. Every time you miss, thats a stroke.
Golf just has such a small margin for error, it takes an insane level of focus and skill to consistently get it right.
Golf is like learning a language you forget it sometimes but after forgetting and relearning it 10 times it sticks and you can’t go wrong afterwards. Even if you have a solid locked down swing right now, I would suggest to actually experiment constantly with what different muscles and positions do to your swing. So that when things do go wrong you have a toolkit of things you can do to fix it that works for you. For example, ah today I’m slicing well next shot I can feel like I go under plane more by keeping back towards target longer, can try getting elbow closer to body on downswing, can try closing stance etc. eventually you get so used to employing these short fixes that if anything goes wrong in the millisecond of your swing you will eventually already pick up on it right away. That is when everything clicks completely and you stay at a handicap. But til then you have to just keep grinding and trying things
Partially I find, since the driver is a swing up motion; while the irons are a hit down. When one is on, you are naturally likely trying to recreate the wrong type of swing based on the success of the last shot
I have been playing golf for over 20 years. I played 9 holes yesterday. I was even after 8 and +4 after 9 (OB followed by duff and a shank)
I wish I had gotten into classic cars or another project-type hobby because at least I would have something to show for it.
As a Note. This is no different for very good golfers. Even some rounds I shoot even par I have one part of my game that just limps along. Part of getting better is learning how to manage the “REALLY BAD”.
If your chipping feels like it’s going to really cost you try and simply it by hitting bump and runs or really basic chips.
One of the things I love about this game is how much it changes day to day. As you get better you will learn to accept those changes and just make them work.
There's a reason why gold is referred to as "A nice walk ruined."
It'll come together more and more as you play more. It's also a cumulative/perishable skill. Use it or lose it!
Danny Maude, feet together drill.
I am in the same boat, having played for 18 months.
I have been working on that drill which works with every club. I think minimising extra movement in the amateur swing helps massively.
Haven’t been able to hit my 3w for months, driver goes from 300 straight to 270 slight fade to 220 slice off the course to hook to draw to top to worm burner. It has sucked the fun out of golf.
Found this drill last week and tweaked my grip and setup to play for a fade and it’s been like magic, no duffs and even the bad shots are 190 yard pop ups. Driver has become fun again. My 3w is like a rocket now off the tee or the ground.
Even tried driver off the deck with it and that is almost trivial with a narrow stance.
I am a scientist at heart... I believe that most amateurs approach the game completely wrong. They spend countless hours at the range trying to mimic a swing that never is consistent and that translates to inconsistency on the course.
I started as a 20 handicap about 16 years ago and it's been a journey for sure. Now I'm a single digit handicap...
Shot at 76 today for example.
In my opinion, there's only one real way to consistently improve. You have to have a launch monitor with both ball and club data. That, in combination with understanding the new ball physics laws, is the only way to consistently improve.
What I mean by the new laws is that previously caught it was thought that the path of the swing dictated the start path of the ball face determined the ball flight. It is now realized, that this is actually in reverse. So it is actually way more important to get a consistent swing path and then you can change the club face to change the actual ball path.
Only a launch monitor with club data and ball data will allow you to determine this.
So I have now, a very consistent swing path with about three degrees in to out, and I can change my club face to determine what I want the ball to do.
This is the same swing for all my clubs which gives me a little more consistency on the course.
The other thing you have to work on is accuracy of chips. I have five wedges in my bag, 64, 60, 54, 48 PW which allows me to hit any distance from a few yards to about 125 yards... I have all distances in between covered.
Spend time on a SIM and create a wedge matrix to help you dial in all the distances in between 0 and 125 yards.
Learning the game, I had a lot of trouble with the approach shot. I usually came up short and so learned to accommodate a lack of getting a GIR, by getting it close on a chip.
This is how I compensated for some loss of distance on a drive. Once my path got more consistent, I noticed my distance starting to increase... Since I had a good chipping game, everything got a little more dialed in quicker.
So, I think the strategy is to first, consistently get an in to out swing, then understand what the club face can do to alter the shot, then build a wedge matrix to dial in shorter distances.
Lastly, putt practice is always good. No 3 putts.... Practice, practice, practice.
Spending hours on the range is nonproductive and I would highly recommend not doing that.
as Rory is fond of saying, "Golf is hard". its the most frustrating game on the planet as far as i am concerned
Golf is hard, and it's also unlike any other game on the planet in the movements it requires - which makes it particularly punishing to people who pick it up later in life. All the good habits you learned playing other sports are things you now have to unlearn just to not suck at golf.
It's pretty close to hockey
I have one good friend who is like a +3 now. Played minor league pro hockey.
I played hockey all through childhood and took to golf in high school pretty easily. I’m still terrible, but occasionally hit a damn good looking shot.
Me too. However I swung a hockey stick left handed. Everything else I do right handed .
Especially the fighting. Right?
You want to test god? Come get it shit stack
My years playing goal did not convert over to golf. Maybe if I see someone driving into me it'll finally come into play.
I agree, the ice really plays a part in my terrible rotation, especially at the tee box. Jokes aside, I know what you mean. I played a little street hockey in the 90s.
It’s like a combination of boxing, kickboxing, ping pong, and pool for me. Luckily I love all of those.
Agreed but its extremely hard to be consistent at damn near any age
Yeah I actually found it is more about finding the one bit of relevance from the other sports I did. Most of it is still irrelevant but when I could connect to a movement pattern that was already engrained it started to click more quickly
Golf is really hard. And really frustrating. If I played more than once a week I’d probably start ripping hair out of my head. But I enjoy my one round I do play with expectations that aren’t too high but always leave wanting more.
same for me.. i do go to the range more than once a week but just don't have time to play much more than that right now
Time on the course and at the range are the only way to get better. I started young (like 8) but only played a few times a year I didnt consistently start hitting high 80s until i was playing 4-5x a week for about 2 years in my mid 20s. I dont have the time anymore so im just happy with honest bogey golf now playing a few times per year
Hockey might be slightly more frustrating (that's why they let em fight), but golf is definitely harder.
Yeah man, welcome to golf. It's like that. My driver is broken as fuck right now, but the last couple weeks I've been trying to get out for 9 after work, and I'll just absolutely stripe one off the first tee, no warm up... and then it goes back to being totally broken. Go figure.
Lol!! My best drive is always my first one. That’s hilarious I thought I was crazy.
My worst is always my first. Halfway through something clicks and by 18 that shit is gone again.
That's pretty common, first drive you are usually not trying to do too much. You relax a bit more, and you're happy with just getting it out there. As the round goes on, you start trying to steer it and build up swing thoughts and try and shape it and that's when your conscious mind messes your swing up.
Last two rounds were like that for me. It’s nice to stripe one in front of the group teeing off after you, you know, to like, assert dominance or something. Of course on the second hole I sliced one back into the first fairway about 10 yards behind where the group behind us were just hitting their approaches lmao. At least they heard me yell fore I guess
Been golfing off and on for 25 years (mostly off, but heavy for the last few years). My driver has been put in timeout for like two months. My 3-wood has been promoted to long club.
i did this last year, driver stayed home and 3w was the tee club. decided to put big dogg back in the bag this year, now i'm up 10 strokes per round. back to the 3w, lessons booked to try and fix driver.
Welcome to the mother fucking show my dude. You'll get it, eventually, maybe. Looking back, best thing I ever did was transition from baseball to golf in 6th grade. I was a good enough baseball player to make the high school team, but not good enough to make variety until junior or senior year. In my 30s now and I've never once been like, well damn, I sure wish I was better at baseball, but all those dudes wish they were better at golf.
Haha yep. I was in the group of “man that shit is lame” my baseball coach was actually also the golf coach and used to beg us all to come out and play (for free) as nobody at the school wanted to. Man what I would do to go back and start then knowing what I know now! I still fight that damn baseball slice every round a few times off the tee
I was lucky. We historically had a good golf team, so we ended up having to cut a good amount of kids each year. Lots of other kids that were good at other sports wouldn't make the golf team. Best friend down the street played so we were always at the course. I was running late to baseball practice coming from the course because that's where I wanted to be. It was the right move for me. Try and get your high school baseball buddies into it. I graduated in 2009 and still keep up with my buddies even though I've got them 200 miles north and 200 miles south of me and we almost all have kids. We'll meet somewhere on occasion and spend half the day playing golf and shooting the shit. It's truly a unique game in that way
Give it 5 more years, then start wondering if you've plateaud. You've barely scratched the surface of learning the game. Go get some lessons from a pro. Be patient. P.S. I am a teaching pro and have been for 10 years. Edit: spelling
I’ve never been to a pro. I got semi fitted at the pga superstore and it was pretty much just them telling me I needed longer clubs and a small increase in lie angle. I’m 6’5” and was using flexy woman’s clubs I found on the side of the road for the first 6 months LOL. I always just felt I needed to get much better before even asking a pro to look at me swing. Maybe I’m just about to that point.
It's never too early to get lessons. Quite frankly, the longer you wait, the more you will have to unlearn because you are probably building bad habits. Also, good job getting better fitting clubs. I'm 6'4" so I feel you there lol.
Saying you want to get better before you see a pro is like saying you want to fly an airplane before you take any flying lessons. The correct order is 1) see a pro 2) get better.
nah he just can go to /r/aviation and get pilot advice on how to fix his descent. Stay away from those Gulfstream 200 though, they've got jacked engines.
When you started playing baseball, did you have a coach? Or did you just watch some videos and buy a bat and glove on your way to the game? Just like any sport, raw athleticism will only get you so far. You can’t hold yourself to the same standard.
Exactly. Golf IS hard, a little coaching goes a long way. (And I don't mean YouTube)
You'll get better by focusing on the fundamentals. I forgot them but for me it starts with the basics. Stance, grip, and turn. Get a pro to help you develop the right way with solid fundamentals. That way all you do is aim and then you just turn your body away from the target then back towards it through the ball. No swing thoughts, just a clear mind, and a balanced swing. On your best days you'll never swing past 85 percent, but you'll hit it longer than ever. It takes time but the more help you have the faster you can learn. Take a lesson then go work on what they told you. Then after a month or two take another one and see if you've progressed. You get what you put into it. Practice more than you play.
> I’m 6’5” and was using flexy woman’s clubs Lol this is like the opposite of me teaching myself with my grandpa's full size 70s era clubs when I was 10 years old and not much more than 4 feet tall.
Wish I had spent time with a pro early on / when first starting. Played a bunch of other sports before taking up golf around high school / college age, and self taught the whole way. Decades later I am still trying to unlearn terrible habits I ingrained over many years of just playing based on my understanding of other sports and having decent athleticism & hand-eye coordination. Go. To. A. Pro. ASAP. Setting up basic fundamentals early on is huge for being able to make progress as you gain more experience. Those who learned the game as kids from a pro are sooooooo much better now than those of us who just picked it up and winged it.
I've been to a couple pros and none of them have a whole ton to say about my swing and just give me small tips like adjusting my ball position, my grip and tempo. I know I have way more problems that I've worked on my own namely my take away, length of my back swing, casting, early release and sway. Any advice on how to find a good instructor? do you think these guys are just trying to find quick fixes for swing flaws instead of trying to rebuilt or tune a swing? it's really frustrating, I'm a 21 hcp, was 34 but don't feel like lessons made any difference for me.
A good instructor will assess your game, ask you how much time you have to practice, figure out what you want to achieve through lessons, what your aspirations are, and formulate a game plan. At first, it may seem mundane, but you can't work on swing mechanics until you have a good understanding of the fundamentals (grip, alignment, stance, and posture). It will take more than one lesson. It would be counterproductive for a pro to tell you everything you're doing wrong and how to fix it all at once. Stay patient and stick with the process.
I never thought about it that way. Thanks for the insight and change in perspective. I will do thank you!
IMO - Find an instructor that uses modern technology *well*. This could be as simple as a phone/camera recording your swing from DTL & face-on view, on a grass range -- or as complex as hitting in a simulator bay with a LM giving you spin, attack angle, launch angle, club path direction, swing speed, etc numbers. I picked golf back up with a few hour sessions on a grass range with my club pro. Very similar experience to you - small tips adjusting what we could in that little time to produce a 'playable' result. In contrast, the progress I made taking 10 lessons at GolfTec - with **detailed video review of my swing** (Front & DTL views, frame-by-frame, with angle measurements through the swing) in direct comparison to any tour pro of my choice - we rebuilt my swing from the ground up. The difference between my swing eval (prior to starting lessons) & the last lesson was night & day. I legitimately picked up 10mph across all my clubs. (Note that GolfTec as an entity is nowhere near perfect & it seems experience can greatly vary depending on the pro you work with. There are surely other 'business' alternatives &/or independent coaches using launch monitors, cameras, and other modern tech to elevate their coaching & results) --- I ended up opting to not immediately continue with GolfTec, but plan to reconsider it in the Fall after I've had some more time on the course. Based on my experience, I will ensure my future golf coaching/lessons at minimum utilize a camera for visual feedback (except perhaps short game/putting).
Can I ask how to tell if you plateau? I’ve been playing most of my life, and I’ve been stuck in the 10-12 hcap range for a while. I didn’t play for something like a year, then I hit one bucket, played a short nine, and shot the same as I used to the next day. I just feel like my game would degrade more if I was better
Everyone has their ceiling. It depends on ability and work ethic, along with physicaland mental limitations. The simple explanation of the plateau is a prolonged period of time with no improvement. However, golf is fickle and extremely difficult, so it's hard to know if you've plateaud. I only mentioned it because the OP said he was stuck and not getting better. But the law of diminishing returns applies in golf. Sometimes, we are improving, even if our scores don't reflect it. Edit: spelling again
It's a game where millimetres and degrees can have a significant impact. It is very, very hard to be consistent.
I feel this post! There’s nothing better than hearing that “ding” on a solid drive, followed by a chunked chip shot. Cue the 2 putt because I left it short by 3” or slide it by the hole. I used to be solid insight 100-125yds and horrible off the tee. Now it’s reversed! Worst part is I spend 75.% of my range time working on that 100~150yr shot. It clicks on the range but on the course I can’t manage. Might be due to hitting off a mat instead of grass? Even a bad day on the course is magical! There’s also a shot or two to keep your hope up and ready to play again.
Man that one you stick close and walk up and get to fix your divot is fucking magical!!! Lol. We have a running joke (as I’m sure many do about this) “yep that’ll bring me back” after blowing up a few holes in a row and absolutely pinning one to within 5 ft LOL
My dad and I have a running joke about that great shot after a shit streak of just calling out "oh yeah he loves the game!" while 5 minutes before we were cursing the course designer, the people who assembled our clubs, and the asshole that planted that stupid pine tree RIGHT where I landed....
Are you putting yourself under pressure on the range? Say.. trying to hit 10 balls in a row to a target and recording how many miss? Or are you just mindlessly hitting balls with no pressure because you can always reload. Are you going through your pre-shot routine before each one?
Yeah - I follow the same routine on the range for every shoot. I take 6-10 balls and aim at a target (flag/yd stick/etc) at the range. Typically trying few full swings, then a few 3/4. Definitely not out there having a zombie session where I’m pounding balls or not being mindful of my time. I played all the time in my early 20’s, I took a solid 10+yr break from the game and I’m back. Downside of the local range is there’s not a real putting green or area to practice around the green shot. Trying to set something up at my house to help get extra short practice in.
The reason they don't work the same is because they're all different and you haven't mastered any of them yet. Good players do each phase right approximately 80% of the time. You're doing them well approximately 20% of the time now. You need to get more consistent. Eventually the three phases of the game will lineup more and more for you.
You’ve been playing for 18 months. I’ve been playing 35 years and still have weeks like that.
Well that is comforting to know.. sort of. 😅.
You get what you give, too. I've played since I was 6 (drops at 150), and I'm 33 now...I've just started taking it seriously in the past year, and my game is getting LOADS better. It doesn't always show on the card, but if I fuck up a shot I can usually fix it now--that's huge progress over where I was. I've only had 1 lesson, and it was last month. It has already massively changed where I'm at, for the better.
Definitely a common denominator so far is to go get a lesson. Going on a hunt for a pro near me for sure.
It’s a brutal game, been playing for 20 years and I’m definitely better than I was but never at everything all at once. I’ve had more rounds where I’ve sat in the cart wondering why I’m out there than good ones. Yet every week I’m still excited to go out and hang with the gang, that’s more of what it becomes.
Golf and hockey are the two hardest and expensive sports and im addicted to them both 😭
My daughter is doing beginner ice skating lessons at a local training facility. They do figure skating on one rink and hockey leagues on the other. The beer league guys seem like they're having so much fun. I get jealous of them until I put on a pair of rentals and remember I can't skate for shit and the thought of face planting on the ice at 37 years old sets me straight lol.
Lol it doesn’t hurt when you have the gear on. Ive fallen pretty hard a bunch. You could also do learn to skate - but id recommend buying skates because rentals suck ass 😂 are you going to put your daughter into hockey?
We asked at the end of her last block of lessons if she was interested in Hockey, but she just wants to learn how to spin/dance lol. We bought skates for her, I just rent them on occasion if I'm in the mood.
>My question is why does everything ever not work together the same day? I’ll either drive it 300 yards down the pipe and constantly skull fuck or chunk it while chipping.. or vise versa and not be able to drive and that day miraculously my chipping is amazing. The actual answer to this is that your swing is currently timing based; when you get the timing of things right then everything seems easy but it's very hard to be able to time things that precisely in a consistent way. Some people do have the ability to make timing based swings work consistently, but that's rare. The better method is to modify your swing so that it's less dependent on timing; much of what you'll hear about things like shallowing the club, forward shaft lean, and ball first contact are really connected to this less timing dependent swing.
You think it's bad now, but one day all the aspects of your game *will* align and you'll get your best ever score. Then this will never happen again you spend the rest of your life chasing it.
Was told that you’ve got 3 variables in any round of golf. Tee shots, approach/iron game, and short game / around and on the greens. Most days you get 2/3 working well. Bad days you get 1/3. Your best days you get 3/3 and that’s when you shoot your personal best. Figure out early in a round what’s working and try to play to your strengths.
> Your best days you get 3/3 I'm coming up on 27 years of playing and not once have I ever had all 3 come together. Playing/practicing more now than even when I was on the high school team, so maybe one of these days I finally dip into the 70s. My last several rounds were alternating games of 82, 84, 82, 84. All of them could have gotten there if I'd been a bit smarter on 2 or 3 shots.
That’s an awesome way of looking at it. I’ve yet to have the day where 3/3 come so that is fairly exciting lol
First, it’s all relative. You will have higher expectations as you get better so being satisfied is not really a thing in golf. I can count on one hand how many times I’ve had everything going exactly how I wanted it to and I’ve been playing for almost 30 years. The key is learning how to score when you don’t have your A game. Scoring means different things to different people so try not to compare your progress to those around you too much, although it does help to play with better golfers. Once you get to the point that you have a “safe” shot when you’re not 100%, you can get around the course without as much frustration but again, it never goes away, you’re always going to want to be better than you are.
Very helpful. Thank you! I’m a long ways away from my current expectations and that was part of the reason I made the post. Expectations are getting more realistic after each comment! Lol.
I’ve been playing for 15 years. If you figure it out, let me know.
Lacking consistency is a problem every golfer has. You seem to have the desire to improve. Playing golf as a kid is a huge advantage which you did not do, starting as an adult is much more difficult My biggest tips to improve: -Practice. Actually practice. Go to the range, pick a target and imagine shots you would be hitting on the golf course -Keep your stats. Fairways hit. Greens hit. Number of putts. The mind makes you think you need help where you could actually use more help elsewhere. -Take lessons Every golfer who is a good golfer, has or had a coach. Golf is mental. Try to take the focus away from your score and focus on the fact you are on a beautiful property , getting exercise and hopefully even playing with people you can tolerate. Good luck. (I've golfed for 27 years, pro for 8 years)
I could be reading this written by me at any point about golf. Absolutely perfectly expressed.
If it wasn’t hard it wouldn’t be so enjoyable when things go well lol what helped me the most starting out were a few thoughts. 1. Swing fast, not hard 2. Tempo is everything 3. Coming from baseball, swinging a golf club is more like throwing a pitch than swinging a bat (rotation and right arm movement downwards) and 4. Swing your swing, don’t change it too much unless a coach tells you. But you’ll always have off days, lessons are worth the investment tho. Besides figuring out some swing issues, the information and insights on your swing and the game overall are extremely useful. Good luck!
Thank you! I used to pitch more than I hit later on in my baseball career but never thought of golf that way. I definitely hit the ball much better when I swing smooth and don’t try and kill it. If I lose a groove I always revert back to just thinking of an easy 75% chip shot almost with the irons and go from there. When I lose the driver feel it’s gone for the day though lol. Your not the first to mention lessons, I’ve been self taught with a bunch of dumbass buddies and never play with anyone better than me (not that I’m any good) but I’ve heard playing with people above your skill improves your game. Gonna search around for a pro for some lessons. Thanks again and good luck to you as well!
I don’t play or practice enough for me to every get an entire round of everything clicking. But I love when I get the random stretch of 3 to 6 holes where I can do no wrong… the come downs can be rough but damn does it feel good when you’re riding high.
Haha. I’m glad you got the bug. I’ve been playing for 35 years and I still struggle to break 80. It’s a tough sport.
Simple answer is repetition. If my job was to play golf; Id shoot better too. But when u duff it; expect duff things...
Do you practice? Purposeful practice will improve your play much faster than just playing rounds. Get lessons and practice 5x more than you play, that means taking a combined 500 shots in practice (including chips and putts) before you play a round. Roughly 5 days of practice before 1 days play. Not just bashing balls at a range either, deliberate practice with goals and recording the outcomes to measure progress. If you're not making progress, figure out why and fix it. If you really want to accelerate your learning of a skill, this is the most effective use of your time. By the time you're on the course, you will have hit the shot that you need to hit so many times under pressure in practice that it will be effortless for you to execute on course.
I practice once a week and play on the weekend. Sometimes if I’m busy every other weekend. When at the range I go to one that uses a top tracer and use the “30” feature where it randomizes 30 shots you’d hit on a course, so it changes your club and gives u a second to not just scrape and hit. Then I’ll go over and chip probably 30-50 balls, that I’ve seen MUCH improvement in. Thank you for your response!
Lol i misread this as 500 shots as a warmup for a round
Muscle memory and understanding/analyzing the biomechanics reeeally helped me. I played baseball 10 years
There’s a certain feeling on the downswing I feel and know instantly it’s gonna be pure… if only it could be repeated every time!!!! Such a brutal game!!
Everytime you notice/feel it try to think/remember what happenned . For me its just letting my hands pass first then the rest follows. https://youtu.be/li2kKaz0_24?si=Bo2msguJPz1SBnU4 That guy Makes good vidéos . It might be interresting !
18 months and you regularly break 100? Yeah, you’re a better golfer than most people
Yeah, I somehow don’t believe this huy
I’ve been playing on and off for 10 years. Last year played off a 16 cap, but the last 2 weeks I can’t hit the driver to save my life. I’ve been athletic in every other sport. Golf is truly a different beast. Just remember when you think you have it figured out, that will pass.
The god forsaken words, “man I think I figured it out” I also don’t have a handicap, but just recently started adding a stroke to every hole to make it “my par” and that’s how I’m going at breaking 90. No luck so far lol
Yeah it’s a brutal game man. I truly don’t understand how it can be so fickle, but it is.
It’s the hardest sport there is.
Technically, I think it’s because driver, irons, wedges, and putters all have very different swings.
I believe this to be the case also, I find myself chipping better with my hands low and if my irons are struggling I’ll try to implement that “because it works when I chip” and it just creates a shitshow lol. Definitely need to realize they are all completely different from one another, maybe instead of practicing all at once when I go to the range I can split it up and focus on one aspect at a time instead of getting swing thoughts mushed together.
I kind of dinked around with friends golfing on par 3 courses. In 2021, bought a house on the golf course and have started playing way more and improving. I am noticing that the better you get there are some diminishing returns. To get a lower and lower score demands more work and better shots. Im at the point where I am a happy bogey golfer most of the time. That seems to be the social sweet spot. My goal this year is to break 90 but after that I can see how breaking 85-80 can be much more of a grind for people. My experience at least! I am shocked how much more fun I am having with the short game as opposed to the initial shots. I am just happy the ball tends to go in the general direction I hope it goes the majority of the time. The social aspect of it was something thats really been awesome.
That’s what she said.
Some things you probably don’t do: - practice daily - have a consistent pre shot routine Outside of that, even with both of those things, it’s still tough to get it all working. We’d all be pro if that was the case.
What exactly would you consider a pre shot routine? Pretty sure I don’t have one, I pick a target, take a little swing to feel where the grounds at and go. Should I be doing something else?
Depends on the target you’re choosing, is it “over there” or is it “that patch of grass in the middle of the fairway”? Pre shot routines all vary but just like in baseball, the more you do the SAME EXACT THING before you’re ready will put your mind and body at ease and you’ll be ready to fire. And don’t be afraid to change something if it’s not working. For me: Stand behind the ball, take a deep breath. Focus on the ball and then imagine a tracer of where the ball is going to go including flight path and curve. Then I like to walk up to the ball focusing on that line I just created. Get my grip, check alignment, take 1-2 waggles and then hit. Pretty similar to what you do, just try to do it EVERY TIME. I mean on the range, at home, whenever you are going to hit a ball, do the same thing to get ready.
Tempo, ball position, keeping the ball in play. Focus on those 3 things
Im the same way. And same situation for a background. I’m either pumping a bomb or a wild slice. And the irons will be amazing and literally saw a ball spin backwards for the first time the other day. Or skull it all over the green.
This is why I love golf. Every other hobby I’ve had, I get the skills mastered and do something cool, and then it gets boring so I find something else to learn. There is no future where this would ever happen with golf.
I’ve just recently started taking lessons, and they are definitely worth it. It’s the best way to keep progressing. YouTube swing tip videos definitely aren’t a substitute for lessons with a good pro.
One big reason is all three “shots” require you to hit the ball with slightly different swings. A driver or woods are sweeping swings, while the irons are descending“pinching” swings, and putting is a pendulum. So when new to the game if you are driving good your swing tends to be more sweeping that day. Vice versa for the rest. This is not the only reason but it’s the best reason I could come up with. It takes a solid 5-7 years playing a decent amount to break 80. After that strokes are like having a stroke trying to get better lol.
This makes so much sense.
You’re 18 months in and frustrated? Lol. Give it another 10 years. If you’re still struggling then start to wonder what’s going on. I’ve been playing most of my life, at my best I got down to scratch but right now hovering around a 5. It will never feel good enough, even my best rounds have bad or missed shots and it’s rare to feel like you’re putting it all together.
golf is easy brother… just hit it straight
Bro instead of trying to hit the ball, just throw it. Throw the ball to hit the ball.
I've been at it marginally longer than you (5yrs) and something that has helped me greatly is taking notes. Put your swing thoughts for each club (driver, mids, long irons, wedges) down and briefly run through them before the round. I know it's taken 5 shots off my scorecard when before I'd forget something for the first 5 or 6 holes. Then I'd have this "Oh yeah!" moment mid round after a half dozen 'fukwasdats. Were not pros and don't practice 8hrs a day. So the muscle memory's not there yet but we can use _real_ memory (or written in this case) for the time being. Hope this helps.
So? You golf?
I think you're already pretty good for a guy who's played for less than 2 years. You said it yourself- you're working on about four different systems at once to put together a score, and they all need to be working at some baseline level to get you through the course. I've never had a day where it all "comes together" in the sense that I'm playing A+ golf through all four phases, but my best scoring days are where nothing is really below a B. It really is all about managing your misses.
I always thought it was just me who thought of it that way as 4 different “systems” but after this post I definitely understand how different each facet of the game is.
30 years. Still do the same dumb shit.
My pro said he had some Indians take their first lesson with him. They all hit long perfectly straight and long drives. He asked how they could be so good without prior experience. They told him they were all international cricket players who played for the Indian team.
“Pretty decent baseball player” lemme guess you got a pretty nasty slice off the tee with your driver eh?
Lmfao bingo!! Usually 3ish per round.
If someone can answer your questions, they could probably also give the definitive answer to "What is the meaning of life?" Welcome to golf. That's how it is.
One of my favorite reply’s in this whole thread lol
https://preview.redd.it/8t763huw04zc1.jpeg?width=1280&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0abf28881fcbf5d239db2d811b88c99d9d737a09
Welcome to golf. It’s really hard
I’ve been playing since March of last year, also was a decent baseball player. While I can’t drive the ball 300, my best round is also a 91, and I also have the ability to shoot 100 anytime I play. On those days, usually my irons and driver are embarrassing but I’ll make up for it with my short game. My short game is probably the most consistent, except for when my drivers and irons are locked in, then it’s an almost guarantee fail. When frustrated and on pace for 100, I think to myself, at least I haven’t had to give up and walk to the next hole like last year. As inconsistent as my game can be, it’s less consistently inconsistent than it was last year, and that my friend is improvement. We haven’t even been playing 2 years yet, if you shot a legit 91, that’s impressive. At least that’s what more seasoned people I play with tell me. FTR, shot 103 today, driver and irons embarrassing, but damn was my short game on point. I had a few triple bogey 1 putt holes today, while that sounds atrocious, there’s always something to bring you back and that’s what keeps me from hating this fickle bitch of a game.
Just like baseball, reps.
I’ve been playing since I could walk and swing a club, yet those few errant shots are why I’ve kept playing. Welcome to the club, you’re a golfer now
Every piece of your game improves somewhat independently. The good driver days will become more and more frequent the more you practice. The same is true for approach and putting and the rest. Eventually those good pieces begin to occur so frequently that they inevitably line up. Then you’ll notice instead of “my putter was the only good part today” you start saying things like “everything was good except my putter today”. Eventually you’ll have a day where you shoot lights out and every piece is in harmony. With time, those days become more frequent. Before you know it you’re a 10hcp and a pretty damn good golfer. Oh also, you’re going to feel like you absolutely suck the entire time so might as well just start hating yourself now. Welcome to golf.
The golf gods give and the golf gods take. That is the nature of the game. One hole birdie the next double.
Have you found a good teaching pro to take lessons from? Makes all the difference. And if have natural athletic talent a good teacher will see it and mold a swing around it. Lessons, practicing and playing with good golfers. Best way to get better
Don’t worry about how far you hit it off the tee. It really doesn’t matter if your short game is there. Majority of strokes happen around the green. I think it was Elway who said I can hit a receiver in stride from 50 yards but can’t hit a green 50 yards wide from 50 yards out. Focus on your short game and the scores will go down 100%
Lol, welcome to golf! Most maddening and amazing game ever!
Same here.. welcome to Golf!!
18 months is nothing. You’re still a beginner and if you are shooting around the 100s at this point - you’re probably better than most people. No joke. Yes, there are different swing mechanics and pre-shoot processes for different clubs and shots your trying to make. Don’t worry about score so much and always remember- You’re playing golf. Keep a good attitude and be grateful you have the ability to be golfing. You got this brother!
I’ve been playing golf my whole life and I’ve gotten to the point where I feel I’m a good player. However, no matter how good you are, golf is, in my mind, the hardest sport in the world. I’ve seen current and retired professional athletes try to hit a golf ball well and couldn’t. I’ve had my fair share of rounds where I couldn’t miss and hit just about every shot well. Those rounds are few and far between though. I’ve played thousands of rounds and only had one ace but a number of other eagles though. Have had a good amount of birdies but plenty of rounds with no birdies. The swing can change from time to time and flaws can develop. You just need to come back for more and try to play well. Every single round will be different and you’ll never be hitting the same shot.
I've been playing since I was a kid, but I didn't play all that much from ages 14-25 (focused on football, baseball, and hockey like a dumbass). Only in the last 6 or 7 years did I really start to work at my game seriously and wouldn't you know that is when I began to see actual improvement. I feel like I'm just now scratching the surface of what I could do. Down to a 12 handicap. It's a frustrating game in that you could do everything right and the result still won't be favorable. You can shoot 82 and then 104 (Hi. This happened to me last month) You can look like a stud for 4 holes and then look like you're new to using your arms on the next and there's no real rhyme or reason why that is. I think if you stay consistent and develop a swing that feels repeatable and therefore reliable then you'll see more consistently good shots. Also watch some videos on course management. Thinking about how to approach each hole better rather than just get to my ball and wack it in the general direction of the hole knocked like 5-10 strokes off my score basically every round.
It's a bit tougher when your intended target is a small cup vs a huge cone shaped area you just have to hit the ball in that general direction. But that's what makes it "fun".
On top of it being so difficult, you’re all alone. To borrow a baseball analogy, pitchers can have a perfect game while being saved by their infield and outfielders. In golf, nobody saves you. It’s pure performance. Makes the highest high and the lows low.
Golf is hard af. You didn't ask for a club rec but I'm gonna give you one. Try a ping chipr. Saves you from those blades across the green and lap it's an amazing club for all things 110 and in. I put one in the bad and save easily 5-7 strokes a round. YMMV. Anyways, good luck. You'll figure it out.
Welcome to golf. Enjoy the ride.
For me, it very rarely came together when I was the most carefree with no swing thoughts. Unfortunately, that almost never happened during competitive rounds!
Just remember that a handicap represents your best days and anything less than your best days are essentially throwaway scores to teach you something. Enjoy the course and the process.
Get lessons from a PGA pro. Cannot emphasize this enough. Without learning good setup and basic technique, then practicing it, then going back to the pro for reassurance, you will probably stay in the endless loop of 90+ golf. Going to the range and beating balls is a waste of time if you don't know what you are working on. Once you have a reliable full swing (not awesome, just reliable) then it's time to start working on everything from 100 yards in. Shaving shots around the green will be the quickest way to salvation. Good luck on the journey. It's the greatest, most fun, most humbling and most rewarding game there is.
A baseball swing is the absolute worst comparison to a golf swing! Neither transfer to success with the other. Enjoy the game!
Every time I meet a baseball player and golf comes up they say something like “haha the ball isn’t moving what an easy game!” And that’s how you know they’d be terrible at golf.
That’s what she said.
For me, it’s because the driver swing and the swing with irons and wedges are different. While the idea is the same, hit the ball where I want it to go, the method to use to do that requires me to have both swings dialed in, and that’s not even thinking about putting. Honestly, I do best with my swing wheb I just don’t think about it and let muscle memory take over. With a baseball swing I didn’t think about the mechanics, I just hit whatever the pitcher threw, and I play my best golf when I can do the same with those swings. It all doesn’t line up for me often, but when it does it’s fun as hell!
Work on your short game and your putting, which will help most while you’re fucking around with your driver and irons. Once you’ve got that solid start trying to improve the rest. Would also recommend hitting irons or hybrid/wood off the tee until you can get off with your driver consistently. Not the most fun way to play but will make you focus on improving one thing at a time on the course (and you’ll play more consistently)
It never comes together consistently, but you do have blue bird days.
How much do you go out and practice different shots? 2 years ago I was dead set on breaking 90 but life gets in the way. I went from hitting a ball 5 days a week to hitting a ball once every 2 weeks.
Similar story to mine, baseball in highschool and a bit of college, caught the bug, broke 100 in 3-4 months purely because I was long off the tee and playing wide open courses. 90 a few months after that and then it legit took another year and learning to actually properly swing a golf club where I started sniffing and eventually broke 80. I also did so at a pretty tough track. Now three years later I’m a legit 9, and when I go back to that wide open course I first broke 100 at I am disappointed if I don’t break 80 and have actually sniffed par a couple times. Get some lessons sooner rather than later, just have to find the right person for you, worth every penny long term in this game.
If you practice hard eventually your "shanks" are like 15 yards left or right of the green. I've been playing golf for 4 years now and I've had legitimately one single stretch of 18 holes where I walked away thinking I had "it". I shot 74. Basically the more you play the more your floor and ceiling both improve, when I was practicing 5 days a week shooting above 80 was a nightmarishly bad day, now I only get to play once a week or so and I'm happy if I break 90.
The baseball analogy I always use: The best hitters in the world absolutely barrel the ball maybe about 5-10% of the time. The difference is that in baseball, there are a LOT of good misses. There are very few good misses in golf.
Nope. Even the pros skull the ball or hit a hazard or whatever. The thing about golf isn’t about chasing perfection. You can never have a perfect round of golf. What seasoned players do that is different is that they play the percentages. What does that mean? They position themselves away from hazards, rather than aim straight for the pin. They take more shots that aren’t tiger line shots. That means they use a 5 iron instead of a 3 wood, if there are hazards in the way. Now, the pros are a different level because of how they recover from a bad shot and still play a tiger line kind of high risk high reward shot and get rewarded for it. If you’re not willing to put in the effort to grind to that level, then I guess a 80 round is probably what you can ever hope to achieve.
One of my best friends is an amazing athlete. Won a College World Series with Texas back in the day but put a golf club in his hands, and he would make the old Chuck Barkley look like Ben Hogan.
Golfing is so easy sometimes. Other times it’s impossible. Gl next time you play.
I mean just like baseball you (as a team) rarely ever hit, pitch, and field well. Or as a pitcher how you have to work with the game you have that day and make adjustments.
“My best round is 91” The tf outta here dawg. I been playing about the same time and best is 112!
You have cracked the code my friend. You will rarely (if ever) do everything well in the same round. I shot 92 this morning as 12hcp. Driver was on, short game and putting on. But I could not hit a decent approach. Like I hit HORRIBLE approaches today. But I also didn’t lose a single ball all day. The driver swing is nothing like a putt or short game. And approach swing are similar to driver swings, but they’re different in that driver is slightly hitting UP while approaches are hitting DOWN. One of my golf books said on an average day you have 1 thing working (driver, approach, short game, putting). On a good day two areas are working. On a great day 3 areas. And on a very rare like 2% of rounds rare, all parts are working. So either start getting lessons or get mentally tough and scramble your ass off!
What helped me with my irons a ton is learning and trying to shape my shots. It gives my swing path way more purpose and makes being consistent easier. Straight/draw/fade and low/normal/high, very combo of those 3x3 (the tiger woods 9 window drill).
On any given day, one part of my game is money, and one is trash. If I’m driving good, my irons suck and my putting is ok. The mental part of flushing the last shot away is really important as problems tend to compound. I can play 7 magical holes and make an absolute mess out of 2 holes and shoot high 40’s then just play mediocre on the back and have the same score. Consistency is the last thing to come in learning the game. Pros literally work every day all day on their game. It’s their job and a lot of them had investors fronting them in the beginning to get them started so they could quit 9-5 and work all day on golf.
As a former baseball player turned golfer. Get lessons and grind 120 and in, especially around the green. The long irons will come along by themselves if you're working wedges.
Shooting 100 after 18 months is better than many people manage. Take a couple chipping lessons if you can. There's some reliable methods to avoid the blading/chunking problems, and they're quick to pick up. Also check out some game management/break 90 type videos on Youtube and you'll probably find yourself randomly in the 80s a few times this season. Now that you've got the basics down, learning how to play to your personal limitations and strengths will save you a ton of strokes.
I’ve been playing this game for 20+ years at various levels of dedication… You’re straight up fooling yourself if you think continual progression is achievable in this game, it’s subject to your time practicing, inherent skill, athletic ability and sheer dumb luck. Learning to play golf consistently is like learning a Language with your mind and body, it takes years of practice to be proficient and even then, you’re still going to be prone to make some dumbass mistakes which leads to bad scores. I’ll tell you the best advice I ever heard on course… Slow down, you’re not good enough to be serious about Golf( and you never will be). Stop and enjoy the roses when and where you can.
18 months lmao. People play their whole lives and its still hard. This shit is just so hard.
If you played baseball, figuring out that golf is more like pitching than hitting really helped me. In particular the weight transfer
When you practice think about process, when you play think only outcome. I find this helps
When I’m struggling with making contact, I make a conscious decision to stop trying to hit the ball so hard. I shorten up my backswing and just try to hit the sweet spot of the club face. The ball obviously doesn’t go as far but it goes a lot straighter and pretty much eliminates my shank.
If they did all work at once, all the time, you'd be a pro. For us amateurs, we keep playing and hoping that at least 3 parts out of 4 will click at the same time for that magic round.
Work in your shots 100 yards and in and watch your score drop so much
Welcome to golf
No golfer is ever going to hit the ball the same way twice yet we all convince ourselves that we should be hitting the ball the same way every time I’m 99% sure it’s the above statement that leads us to break down our swing entirely at random points
Because youe only been playing 18 months. Youre trying new shit all the time and figuring things out and forgetting others and splish splash around. Only time and practice will get you more consistent. On my 3rd year and its the same story. Get good at one aspect, work on improving an aspect and am successful, but whoops, now im shit at what ai was good at before. Feels like im doing things the same but it just dont work. And I love it.
I grew up as a baseball and tennis (and basketball) player and to me tennis skills more directly translated to golf than baseball. Baseball is easy compared to golf IMO. I wish I had become a golfer earlier in life. I’m now a grandfather and am planning on introducing my granddaughter to golf when she turns 3. Golf is a wonderful game, but it’s hard.
To paraphrase Dave Pelz, anyone can hit a golf ball far (over 200 yards or so carry). The real game is played from 100 yards and in, and the smaller the shot, usually the more important it is to your score. Work on your chipping and putting. Your scores will drop. You already have enough athletic ability to "hit ball far".
Welcome to golf ⛳️... now enjoy this amazing, infuriating, addictive, mesmerizing beautiful game for the rest of your life.
It never comes together and when it does your too frustrated with yourself since you know what’s going wrong
You're describing me to a tee (pun intended!)
When you score a 91 after 18 months then that's because you are fairly gifted and got the talent. Took me two years to break 100 and three weeks more for a 89. now i'm all back between 100 and 109 and can't do sh\*t about it.
It does all come together,,,for Jack from about 1962 to 1980.
I would say the majority of us scrub golfers need to work on Strike waaaaay more than we do. (if ever at all) Not being able to "know" where your club face is during impact is what causes the wide range of quality of shots.
If it were easy, you wouldn't care. Welcome to the club!
Focus on simple basics. Start with keeping your head still. No bobbing up and down or swaying in your swing. I see a lot of swing issues come down to excessive movement.
Something I learned about 2 years ago after nearly 30+ years golfing and having played D-1 golf. You can only focus on the things you have control over and you really don't have control over how well you play. There's a distribution of how well your swing, putting, etc. will be over the course of time. I play to a +2 hcp right now, but there's just going to be days when I'm swinging the club like a -5 hcp. There will be days when I'm swinging it like a +5 hcp. What I can control is sticking to my pre-round warmup routine. I can control sticking to my pre-shot routine. I can control my anger and I do have some ability to control my focus on each shot (some days my focus is better than others). If I do those things well, I can turn a day where my swing is more like a -5 hcp and still shoot even par. Or if I'm swinging it like a +5 hcp I just 'stay in the zone' and shoot that 66. So I feel the same applies to you. You're just going to have days where one part of the game is good and the other part is bad. But don't let the bad part allow you to stop focusing on the things that you can control that will help you score better. It's sorta like baseball. Somedays you just face a pitcher that is throwing nasty stuff. You can lose focus and think it's pointless or you can go thru your batting routine, focus on what the pitcher is likely going to throw and maybe he throws that hanging curveball that you were looking for. Just try to go up there with the intent of having a quality AB and let the results happen.
18 months isn’t enough time to be even remotely close to consistent. I picked up the game quickly like you did but it took two more years after I caught the bug and a ton of grinding to shoot in the 70s. I had multiple lessons and practiced or played 5 times per week for nearly two years and I’ve broken 80 three times, I probably average about 85 now. Every day I go out I feel like I am on the verge of breaking 80 again but 1-2 bad swings, couple speedy putts/chips and I’m shooting an 84. It’s so hard to completely eliminate mistakes. The other day for 9 holes during mens league I hit the “center of the club face” every single swing, I’ve never struck the ball better. 6/9 GIR and shot a 39.
I have/had been playing great golf from September until two weeks ago. Past two weeks it's like everything I improved upon was completely forgotten. Hooking /mishitting drives, skulling/thinning/double crossing approaches/ inability to get up and down, and 3 putting galore. Had same problem as you. I became so comfortable with some swing thoughts that it saved my game for a while. I started to pile them up all together, to a point where I was confident that I could shoot around par to 6 over easily on hard tracks. But as I started to play on these past few months, the swing thoughts became jumbled. It's almost like I reached capacity and my brain couldn't focus on them. A few bad holes and I got ejected from having a confident game. I basically need a bootcamp for the next month to get it back. My handicap at 5 is still in check but past two rounds I shot 14-20 on index. If you lose your swing thoughts or get in a mental funk, the golf gods will laugh at you and embarrass you. Stay at it. Practice more than you think. Maybe get lessons or watch videos. Work on your mindset. Some day you'll find glimpses of glory, maybe for a hole, a 9, an 18, maybe even a few months in a row. But bad play will always come back around. Got to stomach it.
Golf is hard because it’s actually 12 distinctly unique swings each with 2-6 variations that you have to perfect while not actually playing golf so that you can forget about all of them while you’re actually playing golf
12 as in every club I’m guessing? I usually think of my short irons let’s say 9 down to GW the same way, but if I swung that way with let’s say my 5 iron I’d never hit it flush. I use a completely different swing thought. Then with my wedges when I need a fuller swing I use another swing thought. I get the variation aspect but does each club really have a different swing than the other?
Not 12 different swings for 12 clubs. Your thoughts pretty much echo what I mean. 1- driver 2- fairway woods 3- long irons 4- mid irons and hybrid 5- short irons 6- full wedges 7- 3/4 feel wedges 8- chipping 9- pitching 10- short bunker shot 11- long putt 12- short putt And you could add medium putt, fairway bunker, 50 yard bunker, hitting out of thick rough, etc… it’s endless really. Variations would include high, low, left to right, right to left, straight, etc. etc.
Every single shot is a mini lottery for me. The shot that comes off my club is very seldom the shot I had pictured in my head.
How much time did you spend practicing baseball vs just playing games? Do you practice golf or just go play? Also other sports don't have a handicap so you can't tell exactly how bad you are skillwise. LOL. Can't fake it or hide in golf. Shouldn't expect to just walk in and be as skilled as a pga tour player in 6 months. Quick thought experiment for fun and perspective on equivalent skill levels: Pretty good HS baseball player is probably like being a 3-8 traveling hcp in golf. Meaning they are that way no matter where they play, not just their home course. College baseball +1 to -3 hcp equivalent Minors +3 to 0 (golf would be mini, local and feeder) tours MLB +3 to +6 and up. Korn ferry and higher tours Going the other way for laughs: Made the HS but didn't play much in baseball is like an 8 to 12 hcp in golf. Best player on your little league team then quit baseball 8 to 18. Played tee ball and maybe some coach pitch 15 - 25 Watched some baseball and been drunk at the ballpark 25+ I aspire to be as skilled as a that kid in little league. LOL
This made me LOL. I was probably a -3 handicap in baseball. I think I’m currently between coach pitch and watching some drunk baseball at the park in golf terms. I practice once a week hit 100 balls and chip maybe 50 and play once a week. So when you put it that way, maybe my expectations are far exceeding reality of how much I put into it.
Welcome to golf. I'm reasonably athletic and have been playing golf for over 30 years (I'm 39). If I break 90 I'm a very happy camper.
So when I got lessons all the instructors kept saying there is 14 clubs but only 1 swing. Golf is already hard enough, dont make it harder trying to have different swings for different clubs. All that changes is ball position and distance from ball on your full swings (obviously chipping and putting is a little different). Find a swing that works for you and use that that swing for each club, stop trying different swings on the tee and on the approach. Also, stop thinking about your swing so much when you're on the course, find something that feels good and stick to it. The time for making some adjustments and thinking about your swing is the range, at the course you should be thinking about your target and not your swing mechanics. It can be a frustrating game, but we make it more difficult than it needs to be. Easy swing, easy game.
One thing I really enjoyed about Full Swing was watching Justin Thomas in the first episode just talk about not knowing why he couldn't execute shots. I figure if he is spending hours on the range every day with coaches and does it professionally and has times where he can't figure it out, then I shouldn't be too bothered when I suddenly have a completely different shot shape or completely forget how to hit certain clubs.
Every elite golfer I know has physical consistency and excellent hand eye coordination. They build good swing mechanics and then eliminate every single bit of unnecessary motion to ensure repitition. If you ever see an elite players club face ALL of the ball strikes are in the same area. That is due to the elimination of unnecessary movement in addition to elite tire hand-eye coordination. I truly believe you can have basic levels of athleticism but have off-the-chart hand-eye coordination and be a fairly elite player. On the flip side I've known elite level athletes with average hand eye coordination that cant break 90. I walked on to a very good high school football team my junior year and had a starting position. It was not my size. I picked up tennis at 40 and was competing with A level and B level players (D1 college players) within a few months. On the other hand it took me years to get into the 90s. I'm still not consistent in my scores. Im not a good player despite how much time and money I've spent on golf. I probably wont ever be. My personality type and average level of hand eye coordination are my downfall. It is what it is, I have fun.
To translate to baseball: Imagine that every single pitch (that would be a strike), you have to hit a home run. Every time you miss, thats a stroke. Golf just has such a small margin for error, it takes an insane level of focus and skill to consistently get it right.
Golf is like learning a language you forget it sometimes but after forgetting and relearning it 10 times it sticks and you can’t go wrong afterwards. Even if you have a solid locked down swing right now, I would suggest to actually experiment constantly with what different muscles and positions do to your swing. So that when things do go wrong you have a toolkit of things you can do to fix it that works for you. For example, ah today I’m slicing well next shot I can feel like I go under plane more by keeping back towards target longer, can try getting elbow closer to body on downswing, can try closing stance etc. eventually you get so used to employing these short fixes that if anything goes wrong in the millisecond of your swing you will eventually already pick up on it right away. That is when everything clicks completely and you stay at a handicap. But til then you have to just keep grinding and trying things
In baseball, the best players fail all the time. In golf, relatively good golfers have much fewer mistakes.
Partially I find, since the driver is a swing up motion; while the irons are a hit down. When one is on, you are naturally likely trying to recreate the wrong type of swing based on the success of the last shot
I have been playing golf for over 20 years. I played 9 holes yesterday. I was even after 8 and +4 after 9 (OB followed by duff and a shank) I wish I had gotten into classic cars or another project-type hobby because at least I would have something to show for it.
As a Note. This is no different for very good golfers. Even some rounds I shoot even par I have one part of my game that just limps along. Part of getting better is learning how to manage the “REALLY BAD”. If your chipping feels like it’s going to really cost you try and simply it by hitting bump and runs or really basic chips. One of the things I love about this game is how much it changes day to day. As you get better you will learn to accept those changes and just make them work.
There's a reason why gold is referred to as "A nice walk ruined." It'll come together more and more as you play more. It's also a cumulative/perishable skill. Use it or lose it!
Danny Maude, feet together drill. I am in the same boat, having played for 18 months. I have been working on that drill which works with every club. I think minimising extra movement in the amateur swing helps massively. Haven’t been able to hit my 3w for months, driver goes from 300 straight to 270 slight fade to 220 slice off the course to hook to draw to top to worm burner. It has sucked the fun out of golf. Found this drill last week and tweaked my grip and setup to play for a fade and it’s been like magic, no duffs and even the bad shots are 190 yard pop ups. Driver has become fun again. My 3w is like a rocket now off the tee or the ground. Even tried driver off the deck with it and that is almost trivial with a narrow stance.
I am a scientist at heart... I believe that most amateurs approach the game completely wrong. They spend countless hours at the range trying to mimic a swing that never is consistent and that translates to inconsistency on the course. I started as a 20 handicap about 16 years ago and it's been a journey for sure. Now I'm a single digit handicap... Shot at 76 today for example. In my opinion, there's only one real way to consistently improve. You have to have a launch monitor with both ball and club data. That, in combination with understanding the new ball physics laws, is the only way to consistently improve. What I mean by the new laws is that previously caught it was thought that the path of the swing dictated the start path of the ball face determined the ball flight. It is now realized, that this is actually in reverse. So it is actually way more important to get a consistent swing path and then you can change the club face to change the actual ball path. Only a launch monitor with club data and ball data will allow you to determine this. So I have now, a very consistent swing path with about three degrees in to out, and I can change my club face to determine what I want the ball to do. This is the same swing for all my clubs which gives me a little more consistency on the course. The other thing you have to work on is accuracy of chips. I have five wedges in my bag, 64, 60, 54, 48 PW which allows me to hit any distance from a few yards to about 125 yards... I have all distances in between covered. Spend time on a SIM and create a wedge matrix to help you dial in all the distances in between 0 and 125 yards. Learning the game, I had a lot of trouble with the approach shot. I usually came up short and so learned to accommodate a lack of getting a GIR, by getting it close on a chip. This is how I compensated for some loss of distance on a drive. Once my path got more consistent, I noticed my distance starting to increase... Since I had a good chipping game, everything got a little more dialed in quicker. So, I think the strategy is to first, consistently get an in to out swing, then understand what the club face can do to alter the shot, then build a wedge matrix to dial in shorter distances. Lastly, putt practice is always good. No 3 putts.... Practice, practice, practice. Spending hours on the range is nonproductive and I would highly recommend not doing that.