Here's the deal

Just picked the game back up this year after an 11 year layoff.  Have purchased numerous sets of clubs off the bay mostly because when I played back then I couldn't afford what I am buying now cheap off the bay.  That being said I was touting the Fire Sole irons by TM as probably being the most forgiving I have found.  That includes, Wilson, Ping, Callaway and Titelist.  A couple of others like Hossom, and Founders Club(which these are actually very very good players clubs).  Ok now the set I have settled on to play day in and day out are a set of Lynx forged c.b.'s with cat logo on them.  Graphite shafts, reg. flex and absolutely dead nuts pure hitting irons.  Just wonderful.  Wedges I have settle on the F2 series of wedges which although funny looking these things have me putting for par and birdie more now than well ever since I didn't have'em till about a month ago!

Ok here's the deal to all of this.  I am now playing to just about where I left off.  Scotch golf, no mulligans etc etc and I bet I might be only a few strokes over what I was when I quit so playing just about to an 11.  For 9 holes which I usually play and walk out of 35 for par at the course I usually play I am right about 39-41 and am as happy as pig in poop.  Found my swing, ball position, putting stance and alingment and I can work the ball if I need to most of the time.  Not all the time but a good majority say 70% which for me ain't bad.

Ok now for this thought, why is it when tour players have major wins they change everything?  Thinking Harrington, Mickelson, Woods, etc.etc.etc.  I mean I quit 11 yrs ago, took me a few months(5) to be exact to almost get back to where I was when I played and practiced alot and I mean alot.  Now I don't practice that much at least for the last month or so but do play at least 2x a week.  I mean what's the story with these guys.  If I can find the key why can't they?  Ok end of rant.  thanks

You're a 12 handicap and don't see a huge difference between yourself and a pro who is +4 to +8 handicap?

I don't know any pro's that play to 4 or 8.  What I am saying is that it seems to me when the pro's win a couple of tournaments or more so a couple of Major events they seem to revamp there swing.  All I am saying is that I pretty much got mine back over the course of 5 months of playing and pounding balls in July and Aug.  I ain't great but better actually than alot of folks I see playing.  So why would a touring pro fix what ain't broke?  I am a bit better than a bogey golfer not much but a bit.  Only over the past couple of weeks have I seen very positive results.  If I can do it in 5 months just to try and get back what I lost it just does not make sense to me that one would totally revamp a swing that ain't broke in the first place.  That's all.  thanks

Sorry, I had to edit your post to get the the crux of your rant.

There have been many, many players who have revamped their swings in an effort to become more consistent, longer off the tee, etc.  Sometimes it works (Hogan, Faldo), and sometimes it doesn't (Baker-Finch).

If "the key" is to shoot 39-41, then you are right, they could lay off for years.  But shooting 65's and 66's on tournament courses under tournament conditions is something entirely different. And that is their goal. In short, there is really no similarity between your situation and theirs.

The pro's are looking for what we all look for, i.e. perfection. Sometimes they get it wrong, and sometimes they don't. But they're talking about needing to shoot 3 or 4 under per round on courses that are over 7000yds and under heaps of pressure. We can take time away from the game and come back only needing to find something that actually isn't that great. When they even take a few weeks off they rarely come back shooting winning scores but usually use the competition before the one they really want to win just to take the rust off.

A) +4 is not the same as 4. +4 is actually better than scratch, while 4 is worse. B) To answer your main point, because the difference between +4 and +6 is astronomically larger compared to the difference between 10 and 8. Pros are so good that they can't shave off a stroke here or there because of course management, or spin rate, or the easy things. They often have to revamp their swings to hit it the extra 10 yards, or the extra green per round if they want to get better. And yeah, they want to get better.

Getting to a 12 is something I've yet to achieve so I wasn't attempting to minimize your success.  In Tigers case his most recent swing change came about because his old swing was placing too much stress on his left knee.  Tiger before joining Foley changed swings because he changed swing coaches from Harmon to Haney.  Others might believe their current swing has some inherent flaws built into it that prevents them from scoring the best they can and a new swing coach can "fix" them and their swing.

The skill, time and effort involved in getting to a scratch level no less a pro level is signficantly greater than what's required to be a 12 handicap so while you may have found it pretty easy to get back to a 12 you might find that no matter how much you practice you can't get to below 5 with your current swing mechanics and will have to overhaul it in order to score better.