Please Help a n00b with consistency issues

Hi there,

i recently started playing Golf. As you can imagine, i'm an awful player, but workin' on it. I hit most fairways with a 5 wood off the tee (about 8/10) and my short game is decent. My iron game is weak on a good day .

Now here's the thing: My biggest problem is consistency. I just can't seem to establish a swing, which i can rely on. On the range, i rarely hit the same shot 2 or 3 times in a row. Sometimes i get on a roll and hit 20 great shots, sometimes a can't hit anything all day. It's pretty hard to play a solid round of golf without a reliable swing. Doesn't help with the mental game either .

My distance is actually alright for a beginner, when i hit it clean. About 120 to 150 yards carry with a 5 iron.

Long story short: Any tips or excercises, mental or physical, on improving swing consistency?

Thanks

Lessons and practice. Lots of practice. As much or more time on the range than you spend on the course

Practice wont make perfect, but it'll help.

If i work all day, or cant go play golf for some reason (wife duty or whatever), I always try to spend at least a half hour at the range.

Golf is a very hard game.

Why would you expect to have any consistency if you haven't got the time to practice every day? Even top players struggle with it. All you can try to do is develop as repeatable a swing as possible within the time/commitment/weather/ability/cost constraints you have. That's why we love the game.

Play with fewer clubs. Start with 10 and get comfortable with those. I suggest one wood and one hybrid be included in that.

Read a lot, watch a lot of videoes (lots of good stuff available free online). Also, if I could go back in time, I'd practice the short game 75% of the time and hit the driving range no more than 25%.

Don't get frustrated. It'll come in time (faster if you take a lesson or two). It took me a full year of play to lose my slice with the driver. Took me a year to break 100 and another almost 2 years to break 90. Now, after 4 full years of play I am still trying for that elusive 79 although I seem to have gone from high 80's to struggling right now to hit high 90's. Next to a woman, this is the next most likely thing in life to drive one crazy. :D

private lessons for a month. Thats what i did, helped a lot

I try to get 6-8 hours a week at the range. But my jobs keep me pretty busy right now. Any excersises that practice a "dry swing" in your backyard for 30 minutes or something?

My idea would be a tee, stuck all the way into the ground with just the top 1/8th inch or so looking out. If i can chop the tee with the sweet spot of the club it was a good swing.

Any other good excercises for the backyard?

A series of lessons - 4 to 8. Range time won't help a lick if you're only ingraining bad technique. I've been there, done that.
Life's too short -- get started on the right foot from the beginning -- take a series of lessons. With the practice time you're already spending, you'll have great progress in just a few months.

Lessons are pretty expensive though. My swing motion is also fine, but only when it's on.

Right now, my main goal is consistency.

Typical round of 18 Holes of Golf: $75 US
Typical balls used/lost (beginner): 3 = $5
Drinks/food on course: $20
Total: $100
Typical time for 18 hole round: 4-1/2 hours
= $23.53/hr

Typical lesson package (4 lessons): $200 US
Typical lesson time: 3/4 hour
Total time: 3 hours
=$67.67/hr

Typical range ball bucket: $10
Typical range time: 1 hr
= $10/hr

So, from these very rough estimates, looks like for the same price as 2 rounds of golf, you can buy 4 lessons. Add in some time on the range for minimal cost, and the total time spent on the course vs. lessons/range is easily matched.

Once you actually start taking the lessons & improving, and then get back out on the course, the benefits of the money & time spent in lessons/range compounds exponentially in fun/playability/impressing your partners/enjoyment/....

I've been down both roads. with golf & lessons, i've learned it's either pay me now, or pary me later.

Yeah, you're right. Thing is, i'm totally broke . Notoriously, since i just finished college and am at the start of my "career". Money wise the worst time of my life so far. Everything else is fine .

Range time is free for me with a bucket of balls $1. So is a round of golf. I only pay a monthly free of roughly 40$.

Still, what you say is very true. I will have to bite the apple and save up my precious money for lessons. 4 hours ($200) is a good start you say?

I'd suggest practicing your swing in slow motion. Find a good book at the library detailing a good swing. And practice that in slow motion whenever you have free time. Building the muscle memory is important for consistency. Then hit the range. See how it works. Don't get frustrated. It takes time, and most of us don't have the immediate free time.

Don't just go out and hit range balls all day if you don't know what to practice. If you just go out there and swing at it all day and don't know what to work on you will just be waisting your time. There are several videos online that you can find that will show you some of the basics to work on. don't try to do more than one or two new things at a time. Also there are two types of practice. One type is just working on new mechanics and things like that. Do not worry where the ball goes at all. Just work on the mechanics. The other is putting it all together and just working on distance control and accuracy.

Lessons would be best, but they are expensive. If you are serious about getting better quickly I would suggest saving for lessons. You have a good amount of time to practice, but it sounds like your spending most of your time working on the range and not enough time at the practice green. Try spending 30-45 minutes on/around the practice green for every hour you get to practice. Improving your shortgame is where you will see the most dramatic improvement of scores. I'm just starting to get back into golf and working from the green out has really helped my scores. Start with putting and chipping on the practice green, and work on that until your confident you can get up and down a good percentage of the time. This is what has really helped me score a lot better, if you know that when you get to within 10-20 yards from the green that you can get up and down it makes you a lot more confident on longer shots. Try and spend a good portion of your time on the range working on pitch shots of different distances from ~30-75 yards also.

If you want to practice at home I would suggest working on your setup (grip,stance,posture) using a mirror to check your stance and posture. It makes it a lot easier to make a good swing if you have a good start. You also need to setup the same way on each shot if you want to have a chance of having a consistent ball flight. If you have a large enough yard you can also practice chipping at home, try and land the ball on a towel from different distances with different clubs. If you have carpet or a large rug you can even practice putting. If you want to work on your full swing at home work more on balance and tempo and not swing mechanics, just save that stuff for when your taking your lessons.

Here's a thread that has some very helpful videos on fundamentals.

http://thesandtrap.com/forum/showthread.php?t=21680

I'm in a very similar situation where I want to take some lessons but I don't have the money to play, practice, and take lessons. I've decided to put playing on hold until I take some lessons. This is basically what I've been working on and will keep working on until I start lessons. If I do play its going to be on a par 3 course that I can play for 7 dollars, but hopefully within the next month I'll have saved enough. Good luck and be sure to have fun out there.

Go out to the range, find a club that you hit well. Hit tons of balls with just that club, find your arc, get you range of motion down, and your tempo. Lessons are a good idea. I've never taken a lesson, but am thinking about it.

I help a lot people starting out with swings and ball striking. What most high handicappers have problems with it set up to the ball, and ball position. In my stance on my irons (standard shot) I play my ball just slight forward of middle, I very this according to the shot i want to hit, But for some one learning their swing always keep it in the same place, always stand over the ball the same way to create a routine. Tempo is key go up Ball swing as hard as you can, then knock 20% off of that, and recreate that speed to create consistency. Work on hand position and grip pressure.

Thanks for all the input, guys.

I figure different folks will make it equally far with different approaches: Self taught vs. lessons and range rat vs. learning by playing. Gotta find out, what suits me best.

I will, however, save my money for lessons. I reflected and figured, the thing that really bugs me the most about my inconsistency is, that i don't know exactly what's the reason for it. I hit a bad shot, i don't know what went wrong and it absolutely kills me . Lessons from a professional golfer will probably the best way to fix that.

Until then i will practice body position in front of a mirror and short game. My short game is actually pretty good for an absolute novice. I rarely three putt and am able to stick most pitches and chips from 40 yards in pretty close. Pretty close for a beginner at least...

My biggest problem is getting there .

With a video camera and Hogan's book you can be your own teacher, for free.

Yeah, i

could . I'd rather trust a good teaching pro with my swing fundamentals tough. I have the best feeling about that. Different strokes for different folks.