Anyone else not really get better by much over the years, despite loads of practice?

[dee cee]

Hey peeps,

Have remained an average golfer for decades despite getting an array of lessons from an array of instructors (some quality teachers actually) and hitting gazillions of balls, trillions of slo mo work, drills etc. I’ve taken on the variety of ways to practice in modern day thinking in an attempt to ingrain things and I’m essentially swinging it just as inconsistent as always. Never really like what I see in my swing and rarely get it looking good. I’m fairly coordinated and have played all sports all my life in a Jack of all master of none type manner.

But I’m starting to think it’s pointless keeping lessons up and drilling and mirror work and pounding balls with a goal of hitting it good.

And I’m not after perfection, just something semi reliable and repeatable. I hit it like a champ then a 32 handicapper one after the other. The disparity between good and bad is great and often.

Anyway a great big rant for no reason but hoping some wise heads can agree or make comment.

Stay safe in the lockdown!

[AndyP]

Never really like what I see in my swing and rarely get it looking good.

What your swing looks like shouldn't matter for starters, as long as it is functional.

Golf is rarely reliable and repeatable, but it's more about making whatever you turn up with on the day work for you.

Have you worked out which parts of your game are letting you down, or is it everything? I'm finding strokes gained analysis useful for targeting things to work on.

[davepuppies]

What do you play off, and what are your goals?

[Webster]

There should be no shame in accepting the reality that you aren't very good. That's what handicaps are for.

[3Puttpete]

There are two types of golfers:

Those who care about where the ball ends up and those who care about how it got there.

And those who can’t count.

[sms316]

There should be no shame in accepting the reality that you aren't very good. That's what handicaps are for.

There are also a small minority of people don’t want to be good.

[Johnny Canuck]

There are also a small minority of people don’t want to be good.

Nicely played.

[jimandr]

The short answer to the question in the header is... everybody.

We all have physical and mental limits that allow us to reach a certain point of ability and then go no further.

Of course, we all like to think we haven't reached that point, and if only we can find the secret ingredient, we will make a breakthrough.

On this forum, most of us think that secret ingredient is a new driver.

Accept it, move on and enjoy the game for what it is and what it gives you.

[dee cee]

Thanks for the responses, appreciate it. It’s good to see how others think and what their point of view is hence the posting. So thank you.

Some thoughts on the posts though. The handicap is 6-7. And some may say that’s good golf. I can assure you that at times its woeful. And I’m talking more on the striking aspects. I’m not talking aesthetics or looking like Adam Scott, I’m talking about function and form, or something like that. My swing has forever had some sort of early extension and I’m very hands and timing dependant. So on good days I’m good, bad days real bad. Ball flights change a lot from hole to hole and never consistent due to this. I’ve done the drills, stuck with teachers for multiple years trying ti fix these issues. Stayed the course so to speak but never really get better. I’m wandering if we are just what we are. I’m wandering how many actually improve their swings. Not 25 cappers to 15 or alike. But if you’ve been playing for 30 years are you just what you are?

My goals is to hit the ball better, consistent patterns with consistent windows. I can practice for 5-10 hours a week sometimes and can play each week.

And my personality doesn’t allow me to accept I’m no good. If I can’t play something that resembles decent, I do not enjoy golf. And I’m not even talking perfection. I get the game is hard and you’ll have indifference. But I just think for the amount of effort and time, I’m not seeing any benefit in practicing.

Not sure what I’m looking for or trying to gain but thanks for reading and any thoughts…

[ParkRoyal]

Are you enjoying playing rounds (or even practising)? If not give it a break for a bit.

If you are, then your in a good place and as others have said find ways to build good rounds than having a perfect swing.

[Captain Nemo]

Cold beer after golf tastes better no matter how shit I am….

[Dactyloscopy Dan]

Thank fk I am not alone

[Stuart]

OK - long response, so feel free to ignore.

I went down the sports psychology rabbit-hole a decade or so ago, and did some work with some of our local junior team in particular. What you are describing is quite common and reflects a lack of clarity about what you mean by 'getting better'. You talk about 'consistency', but you still need to define exactly what you mean. You can't tell if you are improving (or declining for that matter) if you can't clearly define your parameters.

So, as a starting point, if you want to improve 'consistency' you need to work out what you want to be more consistent. Are you talking about:
- overall performance, such as your total scores falling within a smaller range (e.g. for a six handicap player, reducing the number of times you shoot over 80 at your local course);
- on-course performance, such as fairways in regulation, greens in regulation, minimising three-putts, getting up and down around the greens, bunker play, penalty avoidance (ie. out of bounds, water hazards, lost balls etc), and so on.
- driving-range consistency (e.g. hitting certain shot-shapes on demand, avoiding mishits, repeatable distances with a pitching wedge, etc).

You cannot work on everything at once. As AndyP says, stroked gained or similar might give you a good idea of where you are losing shots (if that is what you are seeking to improve), and you can then focus specifically on that. Work out a baseline (e.g. you currently hit 5/13 fairways in regulation), and start to improve on that. Work out where you miss the fairway most often (left/right) and why (pull, hook, slice etc). It may be that focussing on scoring different outcomes may help - for example, instead of worrying about hitting the fairway, set yourself a target on each tee of hitting a high draw, or low fade, or whatever. Success is whether you hit the shot you are after, and not whether it finishes on the fairway. I had a local scratch player who I worked with a fair bit, and we did this drill for a while. It took him a few rounds to get used to it, but his fairways hit percentage went up to nearly 65% (from a fairly low starting point of 38%) simply by concentrating on something other than the outcome of hitting the fairway.

[Ferrins]

To quote my mum
"we can't all be champions but we can look like one"

To me golf reminds me of martial arts where you can become a black belt but can't fight for sh^t.

Anyone who needs strokes has no clue about golf.

[markTHEblake]

and I’m very hands and timing dependant. So on good days I’m good, bad days real bad.

That tells me you have some serious flaws, and some compensations. Almost everyone does, the better players just have better timing. Seems like you dont know where you are going. I reckon you need a lesson from @colinmccarthygolf on Instagram. He charges $95 for a live video lesson. Listen to his stuff, his coaching philosophy is to teach you your swing.
I havent really improved much in 40 years... if that helps. I think i am a better player now, but relative to the leading players around, i am probably 5 strokes worse. If young me was around today he would kick my bum.

[dee cee]

Thanks again all. Good to hear everyones opinion and point of view. Probably a good discussion for a good portion of us at some time within our golfing 'careers'.

I've definitely got some flaws, early(ish) extension which leads to a flippy, inconsistent release. I'm working on that at present so I guess I'll keep doing what I've been doing for decades and grind away, stay the course and see where it leads. I've seen some of Colin McCarthy's stuff on insta. He's got a pretty uncanny swing doesn't he. Bloody works though. If I don't see some change in the next few months I'll send him a swing.... thanks.

I've never really thought about the shots gained stuff and analyzing my game. Maybe it's something I should cast my mind to, thanks for those thoughts.
Ultimately though, what I'm after is a better swing. This is the part of the game I enjoy most. I would rather hit it good and not score than score well and hit it poorly. To be fair, if I hit it good, I rarely score bad. I think in short, I don't like the difference between good and bad. It's too far apart. If I could consistently hit big ugly cuts but keep it in play and with playable distance, I would. This is what I will work towards, not a big cut, but something that resembles a consistent shape.

Back to the grind. Given the situation we are in and still cold(ish) maybe not a bad thing right now anyway.

Thanks again all, I appreciate your input and thoughts.

[markTHEblake]

Dont copy Colins swing.... he always says that.
<br>
I was a flipper too, hope i am not now. In 2019-2020 i was hitting it the worst of my life, and the shortest. Probably due to Frozen shoulder (left) Im the last 12 months turned it around i have picked up 1.5 clubs and about 20m on driver at least. <br>

What worked for me wont work for you! But early 2020 i started out doing the Moe Norman swing. Got me out of the doldrums, found some distance, then suddenly after 3 months of steady hitting I got the duck hooks and couldnt stop.

So stopped doing the Moe, and now getting even better. I make lots of videos of myself, share with my coach. I couldnt tell you any one thing, i cant even remember myself whats working.
<br>
One thing is for sure, no matter what i change on my backswing, the downswing is always the same on video.

[dee cee]

Sounds like a hell of a journey marktheblake… Good on you for sticking with it. I think that’s what I find quite hard.

[virge666]

This one peaked my interest as i am coming back to golf after a long long ... OMG, a long layoff. About 7 years, I have played off anywhere from +2 to about 3-4 for most of my adult life.

2 simple points based on your OP.

1. You can play of 5-10 with practice even with a less that good swing. You sort of work out how to make what you have work. And the practice allows the short game to save you. You can play off 6 by only getting pars on half the course... and the handicap maths takes care of the rest.
2. To get to 3-4 handicap - you just have to have a better swing, your misses have to be better, your short game has to have a proper method to it all.

The move down to 2 was the next big jump and that is when you really have faith in the method and you play to it. Scratch is just when you get better with the method and anything past that is work and practice. Distance is just not an issue with our level of golf - We have 14 year old girls who cant hit it 200m and play off 4, but technically - they are pretty good.
This has been my journey and my highest handicap was 7 when i was 15 or 16. (born into a golf mad family)

So if you wish to get to 4 - You are going to have to find out what makes a good golf swing and i would suggest a coach, just one... and a method. Just one of those as well. and then you study and practice and go through all the frustrations that come along with it.

And it is hard - i shit you not - it is bloody difficult, but the end result is that you will be able to play golf well for as long as your body holds up.

Good luck.

[Kelsey86]

I'm probably not in a great position to comment given I've only been back playing again for 18-20 months or so, but I have reached a point where I'm not getting any better. I play off 18 currently, and scores range from about 85-95 most rounds at the moment. I've never had lessons so whether that will help me improve I don't know, but I suspect they will. Going for my first one tomorrow week and planning on regular lessons for however long it takes to get to where I want to get. Similarly I just want more consistency with ball striking and direction.

Today I made a conscious effort to keep my back straighter in my setup/swing after watching a short clip from my club's pro then working out how and what it felt like in the mirror. Also made a slight grip change. It didn't help my score but I did find I hit hardly any hooks with mid/long irons which has been an issue, and actual ball striking was better. Direction wasn't always great and my short game let me down but I was happy to see some improvement in an area that has caused me problems.

Of course the lessons might change things slightly again.

[TS]

This one peaked my interest as i am coming back to golf after a long long ... OMG, a long layoff. About 7 years, I have played off anywhere from +2 to about 3-4 for most of my adult life.

2 simple points based on your OP.

1. You can play of 5-10 with practice even with a less that good swing. You sort of work out how to make what you have work. And the practice allows the short game to save you. You can play off 6 by only getting pars on half the course... and the handicap maths takes care of the rest.
2. To get to 3-4 handicap - you just have to have a better swing, your misses have to be better, your short game has to have a proper method to it all.

The move down to 2 was the next big jump and that is when you really have faith in the method and you play to it. Scratch is just when you get better with the method and anything past that is work and practice. Distance is just not an issue with our level of golf - We have 14 year old girls who cant hit it 200m and play off 4, but technically - they are pretty good.
This has been my journey and my highest handicap was 7 when i was 15 or 16. (born into a golf mad family)

So if you wish to get to 4 - You are going to have to find out what makes a good golf swing and i would suggest a coach, just one... and a method. Just one of those as well. and then you study and practice and go through all the frustrations that come along with it.

And it is hard - i shit you not - it is bloody difficult, but the end result is that you will be able to play golf well for as long as your body holds up.

Good luck.

Good to hear that you are back. Need to catch up when all these lockdown are over

[BVB21]

My advice to OP is this.You have hit a plateau due to poor fundamentals. (You even admitted this by saying you are on/off with your hands)If you want to get lower then you are going to develop solid fundamentals and practice these.This will most likely cause you to go backwards and if you never grasp the concepts it will be very frustrating in terms of money spent and time lost.So you need to decide whether you want to go down that path or be happy being a single figure player and enjoy the game for what it is.

[dee cee]

More good info. Thanks guys. Hopefully a number of people will get something out of this. I’m just very lost at present. I hit balls for like 4 hours today, but probably got into some shitty block practice and things went south. I’m now just drinking beer and watching the European tour.

[Toxic]

More good info. Thanks guys. Hopefully a number of people will get something out of this. I’m just very lost at present. I hit balls for like 4 hours today, but probably got into some shitty block practice and things went south. I’m now just drinking beer and watching the European tour.

Out of curiosity,..when you hit balls, what was the goal?

[Toolish]

I play off 4 currently, have been down to 2 and sound similar in regards to swing. A bit of early extension, some flip. Best ever round is 2 under, average high 70's currently.

If you can afford to pay for a coach and are willing to put in the time you should be able to improve. However with the amount of balls you have hit changes will take time and you will have compensations built in.

You have to accept that for a period of time you may strike it like absolute shit, until you get the root cause and the compensation down.

Right now I think I have found the reason for my early extension, swing looks better on video, but man I am hitting it everywhere!