About to quit!

Just understand this is the most frustrating game you'll ever play. When you think you've got it all down cold, some wheel will fall off and you'll be humbled yet again.

You might try focusing on what causes the ball to curve a certain way be it left or right and just try to make solid contact. Forget what

your final score is and just hit each shot as solid as you can. Results will eventually come but golf is always up and down. It takes a long time, a lot of work and/or some fairly decent hand eye coordination to get down to even bogey golf(shooting 90).

Welcome to the site.

I'd suggest you create a MySwing thread and let the experts here try to assist you in improving your swing.  I'd also suggest you check out some of the 5SK threads like; http://thesandtrap.com/t/61376/5sk-video-thread/0_30

You want to make sure what you practice is helping you and not hurting, unlearning bad habits isn't easy, trust me I know.   Don't give up, we've all gone through it and in some cases still go through it.  It's a great game that will always challenge you no matter how good you get.

Welcome to the site, TheAlphaMale.

Humor mode on:

You have not put in enough years (just 10 months) to quit, my friend.   By posting this thread, you have insulted many here who have suffered through many years (decades) of golf setbacks, hopes, gradual declines, sudden collapses, occasional victory laps, broken marriages, lost fortunes on equipment & bets, .....    Give it another 5 years before you post another thread about your quitting golf.   Until then, practice, take lessons, practice, take lessons, and once in a while, try to enjoy playing golf.    Don't let on that you are having too much fun.   That will make the golf god mad and you will immediately lose 3 points off of your handicap index.

Humor mode off:

Seriously, you need to have patience, some sort of plan to improve (lessons, practices come to my mind), understand that golf is a "game" and have fun.

I think the guys are overstating it a bit (maybe I'm wrong, I'm no mind reader) when they say they share the same level of frustration you are experiencing. I've played many sports very well in my life, and nothing has frustrated me like golf. There's something mind-numbingly awful when you can't even hit the thing straight 50 yards. You feel like a cripple. Here's my story for you:

I actually DID quit from about the ages of 25-36 because of frustration. I remember well playing in a foursome with a friend and two older men in their 70s or so who had spent the entire round watching me hit the ball in the wrong direction. I easily lost 12 balls that day. I hit a driver so badly off line that it went across the next fairway to my right, over a fence, and bounced through an abandoned parking lot. On the 17th hole I shanked about 5 8-iron shots in a row, picked up my clubs, and walked away in disgust. I recall one of the old fogies turning to the other saying "God, this guy's awful" under his breath. I could've killed him. Never again!!! I said. I was a minor league baseball recruit who could hit a baseball 450 feet. Playing golf had become the equivalent of throwing a baseball and having it defy the laws of physics against your will. It was so frustrating that I figured flag football, triathlons, or drinking more whiskey would be preferable. Volunteering at a pet shelter to clean up dog crap all day seemed like a better idea.

On Thanksgiving Day in 2011, I decided to give golf another go. I remembered the bad memories and told myself to be patient. Really patient. I spent a lot of time on pitching and putting. I had days where I shanked 20 wedges in a row after hitting it well the day before and wanted to throw the club through a glass window. Then I would put it down for a few days and come back to it. About a year later, I felt like I was making great progress and I told my wife we should stop at the driving range so I could show off my new swing. I shanked maybe 50 balls of 60. This was after a few weeks of practicing daily. At one point I started hitting the balls with my right hand in the center of the shaft like a hockey stick. I couldn't make the ball go straight any other way.

I remember posting a thread like yours somewhere back in like 2012. Today I can tell you I really lament not playing golf at all during those years. Also, the awfulness I exhibited then is nothing like the awfulness now. I still shank here and there, and duck hook drives, but the awfulness is less frequent and generally less penal. Your friends are right. You will get through it. Just be patient and have few expectations. The movements in a golf swing and the margin for error are very different in many ways and much smaller than in other sports. You may have two or three mechanical flaws that are quite fixable that are sabotaging your ability to hit the ball.

Anyway, it's a great game, especially since sports get harder on the body as you age. I hope you break though your difficulties and enjoy it!

I was ready to quit too. It's too early in the season. My last round... I thought I'd improve. I was doing well except for fatigue on the last three or four holes. Then my putter decided to go on vacation. I had 46 putts through 16 when I picked up and left. If the putter hadn't cost $300 I would have wrapped it around a tree (seven 4-putts)... otherwise the round wasn't bad, except for my Kevin Na 15th. I had more GIRs than ever. I even hit a beautiful high soft wedge shot onto the 7th green which is usually soft itself - right dead center and it hit hard and bounced off the back. The green is large too. Chipped on and three putted. They were using "bladed aeration" and sanded about 10 days ago and the greens hadn't recovered from that.

I even had two birdies! But that doesn't matter. The conditions have been horrid. But with the nice weather one can forget this is just mid April. Courses around here won't be in decent shape for another six weeks. We'll be picking up and cleaning our golf balls. We'll be putting on gritty greens so we won't know how well we're putting for a while.

You'll be taking one to two more clubs than normal. You'll be hitting the ball over the green because the ground is uneven in firmness underneath. They're also mowing the fairways so tight you can't hit a hybrid, yet they're still soft.

It's too soon to tell how you're going to play.

You have to believe that you WILL get to the point where golf will be fun - whatever that is for you. Maybe that's appreciating the good shots and not getting down about the bad ones, maybe it's taking someone else's money, or maybe it's just being out on the course with friends or by yourself. For some, the challenge of improving is the best part. To each their own.

My point is that here are so many good things about this game. It's a shame when we let poor play or the lack of quick improvement prevent us from enjoying them.

Good advice. Those lowest points can really test you though.

I burst out laughing while reading the bold part above.   Many times,  I went as far as putting the club (usually the driver or 3W) across my thigh to break in half.  Then, "cheap" part of me reminded me that I can put the club on Ebay and still get a few dollars out of it.

After my crappy range session last night, this was just what I needed to see.

When your chunking shots half the distance, you feel alone. That shank that tickles your neighbor's mustache, makes your face burn. The wrist-shattering fat shot brings a physical pain that tries to compete for what your brain is going through.

It's important to understand that you are not alone. If you wake up one day and don't want to go out, don't. Breaks are a good idea sometimes. Mine usually last a week or less.

I started playing about 3 or 4 years ago and for the first year or so when I routinely only shot like a 105 to 115 I was perfectly happy with those numbers because I had no expectations for myself. However, I eventually started getting better and examining my swing and start shooting low 90s more often and thats when the frustration set in because I was at a point where I knew i could hit every "golf" shot there was... at least on the range.  I knew if i could put a good round together I could easily shoot close to par but I never got there. I'd always have 2 or 3 holes I would blow up on.  I took a long break because I got engaged and some of my friends I played with regularly moved away. But now I'm back and I'm also back to shooting around 110 but can still hit all the golf shots on the range. Its still really frustrating but im trying to work through my swing mechanics again and eventually I will break 90 and then 80 and then 70

Hey sorry, I have taken 2 lessons during this time and have gotten worse. I honestly just want to make solid contact with the ball and if i could break 100 i would be satisfied. I keep hitting fat shots, hitting the ground before the ball almost everytime. I used to be able to hit my short irons wherever i wanted and now I cant get them into the air. Right now i just am trying to make solid contact, but seem not put it together. each time its worse.

"ATTENTION" ...........By order of the captain......The floggings will continue until moral improves!..........

And what does Golf spelled backwards spell Flog!!...........

I took 1 on 1 lesson for the 1st time this year after 5+ years of playing golf.   My game & handicap got worse for 2 straight months before it got better.   It takes time before the new swing (and lots of practice) take its effect.    I've chronicled my ordeal in another thread while this was happening if you are interested - http://thesandtrap.com/t/78501/diary-of-a-bogey-golfer-with-his-1st-custom-fit-clubs.

I'll add another vote for starting a 'My Swing' thread if you are interested in useful input about your swing and its flaws.

Without an abundance of self-awareness you will be completely at the mercy of the golf gods every time you play. Plenty of people accept that situation, play terribly, but don't get much bothered by it but a goodly number (maybe even a majority) let the frustration of being helpless to self-improve really get to them (I am firmly in the latter camp, btw). The only way forward there is professional help or rigorous self-examination (and experimentation) to master your motion and give you the ability to self-coach when you start having issues.

Yes.

You know what else is normal? Playing a full month of the worst golf in your life, followed by a month of the best golf of your life. Especially in your first year.

Take half swings and find the sweet spot. Find...the....sweet spot. If you need to, spray Dr. Scholl's footspray on your clubface and figure out where the ball is hitting.

I once completely lost my swing for an entire month last year, I was in the same place as you. I decided I was just going to have fun and hit half swing driver and hybrid around the ENTIRE course. It was fun and honestly I didn't score half bad. Try it.