Quitting golf???

I am seriously considering quitting golf. I am by no means good at it (20 hcp) but lowered my handicap by 10+ this year. In 2008 i was hoping to lower it again to about a 15 but now im not so sure. i went to the range for the first time in 2008 and shanked about 90% of my shots. (at worst i have 2 shanks per 18 holes when i play.) i dont get it.... i slowed my swing down, took 3/4 swings, 1/2 swings, loosened up like 5 times, tried pitches but nothing. kept on shanking and could not hit the sweet spot. should i just stop?

If golf is something you enjoy, don't stop. Consider having someone look at your swing and clubs to see if that's a reason for the shanks. This happened to me about a year ago at the range. The pro I work with was there, saw what I was doing, and offered to help - turns out I had seriously mis-gripped the club.

Go back to fundamentals (grip and stance, not just tempo and distance) for each shot. I bet you'll fix it in no time flat.

DO NOT GIVE IN... even Tin Cup had the shanks. "Just turn your hat around sideways, untuck the left side of your shirt"... sorry couldn't resist referencing the movie. But, yeah many beginers go through it, as Shindig said, have someone look at your grip, stance, swing, etc. You will overcome.

However, golf will ALWAYS frustrate you at times. As indicated I'm a 10 handicap, but I had three days this summer where I shot upper 90's. Sometimes the swing just doesn't work, or worse yet, having a great day, but last hole you have two putts to break 80 and three jack it. Also, I'm at a point where I know I can hit just about every shot (no not those impossible tiger woods shots, but most shots) and yet I still don't do it EVERY time. In fact some days I can't find it. Golf is like that, just keep rolling, keep working, and most importantly have fun... if it's not working that day, come back next week and go do something else.

If you don't have any talent this game will drive you to insanity. After three years I am in the same position as you. Now I'm only out there for the exercise.

Coincidentally, my son did give up golf today. Just to seal the deal, he broke his club in half on the first tee and stomped back to the car.

I have had many days like that. I was once a 5 but i'm not a 14. but as i work through the problems, all it takes is rolling in a 10ft birdie like today that keeps me coming back!

Yea I thought about giving up golf after missing 4 birdies in a row then when we got in the club house and the other three guys paid what I won I thought what the Hell I'll keep playing.
Some days your the bug others your the windshield.

You can't quit denver! It's the best game in the world. But golf is so frustrating, I agree. We have all been there with you; you're not alone. If you witnessed me play last year, you'd think you were the next Tiger Woods.

Just hang in there partner

Yikes

How old is your son, how long have the two of you been playing?

I'm wondering how strong the kid is, seeing as how he broke a modern club. I've heard of people snapping clubs when they were hickory shafts and what-not, or when you swing as fast as Tiger and hit a tree, but wow.

Twenty and he has a flash temper. Both of us started in August 2004.

Before you quit, give this book a read:

Golf is Not a Game of Perfect, by Dr. Bob Rotella

Dr. Rotella is a sports psychologist who specializes in golf. This book is an interesting analysis of how the brain and the body counteract each other when swinging a golf club. It will not necessarily fix your game overnight, but it will contribute to a better outlook of the game.

I always liked this one...

Golf is like s_x, it's that one good hit out of every 100 that keeps us coming back.

Don't give up, if everything was easy how fun could the world be?

I think this underscores one of the arguments over at Lamebum's excellent discussion regarding hurdles to the growth of golf as a sport for the masses.

Golf is a difficult sport to merely learn, let alone master. Sometimes dauntingly so. Many of the most basic physical movements seem counter-intuitive, and take months of dreary repetition to ingrain as muscle memory.

You are faced with an almost infinitely variable number of lies, each of which requires you to decide on which of multiple clubs will best suit the situation.

Then you have to modify your body position, ball position, tempo or swing depending on all that. Usually it's a combination of all four.

THEN you have the almost completely seperate skill of putting to contend with.

Could you imagine if other sports were this intracate? Something like baseball would become unfathomable if you had to choose one of 14 bats, and modify your swing, every pitch, depending on your desired outcome. T-Ball fields would be empty after school.

If you decide to plow ahead anyway, you'd better be just as economically fortified. Let's even assume you've been given a set of hand-me-down clubs from Uncle Bubba. Trying to build muscle memory one 10 dollar bucket at a time, with the occassional 50 dollar lesson sprinkled in, can really eat into the beer budget (gads!). That's before you even get to PLAY the damned game.

So, yeah. I can see why Denver, along with many many others, give up on the game before they've become proficient. There can be an awful lot of hurdles to clear before things move from the "Frustrating" to the "Fun" side of the scale. I hope he (and others who've expressed the same thing here) DO stick with it, but I certainly understand if he doesn't.

Golf is by far the most challenging sport I've ever played. I think we've all had times where we just wanted to give up.

I agree that some time with an instructor would help. Also, taking time off from golf helps sometimes as well.

Is just a game. First priortiy should be having fun. Try not to obsess so much and let the game consumes you. Don't quit, keep working, if it happens, it happens, if not, is no big deal. I rather be a poor ball striker who have fun, than a obsessed angry low handicapper.

HAHAHAHA THATS CLASS!!!

BUT DONT GIVE UP!!!!, TRY YOUR HARDEST GET LESSONS AND TURN PRO!! (lol if we ever get there!)

Golf is a funny game man, I was playing vs a 3 handicapper in our club champ, we were tied going into the back 9, we had both shot 38 on the front. He fires off a 55 on the back. The dude is a 3. legit. The year prior his worst score was 79, this year his worst was 81, other than that his worst was 77. It doesnt really matter who you are or how good you are, golf is like that.

Shit I go all winter with the most golf I do is putting and my first round of the year I shank balls and top them and almost whiff. Then I get a large bucket and go to the range and it all works out, its almost like a little tradition I have with myself now. Like others have said yuo have to have fun beofre anything or its not worth it. Why else play? There is the challenge, but there are things that Im sure you can find that are challenging that you would enjoy more. Same with companionship or anything like that.