3 Years in and Still Can't Swing!

[Bizzle87]

Hello, my names Steve, its my first post on this forum and I’m seeking advice! I’ve been playing (trying to) golf for around 3 years now on and off and I have been a member of the local 9-hole course for this amount of time also.

My problem is that I feel like I’ve never got better. Don’t get me wrong I probably don’t help the situation by falling in and out of love with the sport, as I have a good round and feel like I’ve cracked the code, to then play the next time and be the worst I’ve ever played!!!

I’m not sure what to do to improve my ability however. A lot of people say “just go and play… everyday.. as much as you can, that’s the only way to get better”. It doesn’t feel right though. It feels like I have fundamental issues with my golf swing. Example, went to the driving range today, every club goes 100 yards! Whether it’s a 9 iron, 7 iron, 5 iron, rescue (sometimes 125y) and my 3 wood reaches 125 yards with what I consider a clean hit!! And I don’t even pick the driver out of the bag anymore! When I first started and also for the years afterwards I had loads of lessons with the course pro, and to be fair to him minor things did improve and he got my grip sorted etc, however a lot got worse also. I felt I was paying a lot of money for 30 mins to have 20 mins of nicey nicey chat and 7 mins of lesson talk… the other 3 minutes were where he would regularly be late!! So I’ve avoided these for the past year!!

So I guess my question is, has anyone else found themselves in a similar position when starting out, and how did you figure out what was going wrong and start hitting the proper distances? I appreciate that there is no magic pill and it wont change overnight, but any help to get back on the right track would be awesome!

[Coder]

Let me be the first to say... find a better instructor! You can definitely do better than "20 mins of nicey nicey chat and 7 mins of lesson" and if there's nobody in your area you can do it online.

[Coder]

... The nice people on this site may also give you some free (and in some cases, professional) advice if you post videos of your swing in the "My Swing" section.

[Vinsk]

57 minutes ago, Bizzle87 said:

Hello, my names Steve, its my first post on this forum and I’m seeking advice! I’ve been playing (trying to) golf for around 3 years now on and off and I have been a member of the local 9-hole course for this amount of time also.

 

My problem is that I feel like I’ve never got better. Don’t get me wrong I probably don’t help the situation by falling in and out of love with the sport, as I have a good round and feel like I’ve cracked the code, to then play the next time and be the worst I’ve ever played!!!

 

I’m not sure what to do to improve my ability however. A lot of people say “just go and play… everyday.. as much as you can, that’s the only way to get better”. It doesn’t feel right though. It feels like I have fundamental issues with my golf swing. Example, went to the driving range today, every club goes 100 yards! Whether it’s a 9 iron, 7 iron, 5 iron, rescue (sometimes 125y) and my 3 wood reaches 125 yards with what I consider a clean hit!! And I don’t even pick the driver out of the bag anymore! When I first started and also for the years afterwards I had loads of lessons with the course pro, and to be fair to him minor things did improve and he got my grip sorted etc, however a lot got worse also. I felt I was paying a lot of money for 30 mins to have 20 mins of nicey nicey chat and 7 mins of lesson talk… the other 3 minutes were where he would regularly be late!! So I’ve avoided these for the past year!!

 

So I guess my question is, has anyone else found themselves in a similar position when starting out, and how did you figure out what was going wrong and start hitting the proper distances? I appreciate that there is no magic pill and it wont change overnight, but any help to get back on the right track would be awesome!

 

Welcome to TST. I’m hoping you have many videos of your swing being that you’ve taken a good share of lessons. If not, well that’s just a shame. If so then upload a video (down the line and face on) to YouTube then copy/paste the link into your ‘My Swing’ thread. There are many excellent instructors on this site who will get you in the right direction. 

Golf is hard. I’ve played for 40yrs with most of that being done with either no or poor instruction. You need to get specific priorities and work on them, probably no more than 2 at a time and often just one depending on the severity. It takes a ton of patience and equal hard work. Welcome again and take a look around here. Cheers.

https://thesandtrap.com/forums/forum/13-member-swings/

 

Edited May 4, 2019 by Vinsk

[DrvFrShow]

4 hours ago, Bizzle87 said:

Hello, my names Steve, its my first post on this forum and I’m seeking advice! I’ve been playing (trying to) golf for around 3 years now on and off and I have been a member of the local 9-hole course for this amount of time also.

My problem is that I feel like I’ve never got better. Don’t get me wrong I probably don’t help the situation by falling in and out of love with the sport, as I have a good round and feel like I’ve cracked the code, to then play the next time and be the worst I’ve ever played!!!

I’m not sure what to do to improve my ability however. A lot of people say “just go and play… everyday.. as much as you can, that’s the only way to get better”. It doesn’t feel right though. It feels like I have fundamental issues with my golf swing. Example, went to the driving range today, every club goes 100 yards! Whether it’s a 9 iron, 7 iron, 5 iron, rescue (sometimes 125y) and my 3 wood reaches 125 yards with what I consider a clean hit!! And I don’t even pick the driver out of the bag anymore! When I first started and also for the years afterwards I had loads of lessons with the course pro, and to be fair to him minor things did improve and he got my grip sorted etc, however a lot got worse also. I felt I was paying a lot of money for 30 mins to have 20 mins of nicey nicey chat and 7 mins of lesson talk… the other 3 minutes were where he would regularly be late!! So I’ve avoided these for the past year!!

So I guess my question is, has anyone else found themselves in a similar position when starting out, and how did you figure out what was going wrong and start hitting the proper distances? I appreciate that there is no magic pill and it wont change overnight, but any help to get back on the right track would be awesome!

 

1. You're swinging with your arms and not getting a shoulder turn.

2. You're swinging with your arms and not getting a shoulder turn.

You can take it for what it's worth, but I've only been playing for about the past 7 years + about 6 when I was a teen. I think I've spent about a grand on lessons and my game is still bollocks but at least I can shoot around 90. I can't afford to practice more than once or twice a week or play more than one round a week. So it is what it is. But I've been told I have a nice swing. I know the lack of practice is the problem - lack of $$$ is the problem - that and I'm not exactly young.

IMO, the golf swing really isn't that complicated. But it depends upon what you want to do with it. If you want to be a club champion, that's going to take a ton of time and effort. If you just want to go out and play and have fun without getting frustrated as all hell, that's an entirely different goal. Set your expectations accordingly. 

Find a good coach. Go to a range where some college golfers practice and ask them who they'd recommend taking lessons from. That's what I did. Otherwise you're pretty much taking your chances. 

After reading your post, right now I think you need to learn how to swing a club. They shouldn't all go the same distance. You need a coach who won't overwhelm you with technical BS. You want someone who will teach you feel. Technical stuff is for way later.

[Cantankerish]

Bizzle, seriously, post your swing in the MySwing section.  The guys can point you in the right direction.  Also, if you get serious there is this website called

Welcome to Evolvr - Online Golf Instruction - Evolvr - Online Golf Instruction

---

Golf Evolution's online golf instruction.

It's like an inexpensive golfing class online.

[Bizzle87]

Hello again all, so it’s been a few weeks since my posts and I’ve been out and about playing golf.

 

Thought I’d see where I am again, as I hadn’t really played consistently for about 8 months! Played a round at a very tricky and long course just over a week ago and scored 107, with several pars... and therefore several duffed holes also!! I’ve also been to the driving range a few times since and have found the same old frustrations arising. The one day at the range I felt I was solving some issues and was striking the ball clean, with the distance improving... 3 days later and I can hardly hit the ball consistently again!!!

 

I haven’t had any lessons yet.... after this week I’m thinking this is definitely the next step!!!

 

 

[Vinsk]

21 minutes ago, Bizzle87 said:

Hello again all, so it’s been a few weeks since my posts and I’ve been out and about playing golf.

 

Thought I’d see where I am again, as I hadn’t really played consistently for about 8 months! Played a round at a very tricky and long course just over a week ago and scored 107, with several pars... and therefore several duffed holes also!! I’ve also been to the driving range a few times since and have found the same old frustrations arising. The one day at the range I felt I was solving some issues and was striking the ball clean, with the distance improving... 3 days later and I can hardly hit the ball consistently again!!!

 

I haven’t had any lessons yet.... after this week I’m thinking this is definitely the next step!!!

 

 

Golf is a sport where practicing hours and hours can yield nothing or even make you worse. Now you can get into a groove on the range and it will have you thinking you’re improving. But golf isn’t hitting the same shot or even similar over and over especially with the same club.

Golf is cruel. You must have guidance or you’re just gonna go down the inevitable rabbit hole of compensations. 

If you have any problems finding an instructor, Evolvr.com is a great online teaching program you can sign up for from this site. 

[Shindig]

2 hours ago, Bizzle87 said:

I haven’t had any lessons yet.... after this week I’m thinking this is definitely the next step!!!

Got a camera?  Set up a "My Swing" thread.  You'll get some good advice from people who know what they're doing, and it won't be 20 minutes of nicey nicey chat  It'll just be "here's something very specific to go practice, now go practice and check back in in a bit" (but of course, continue to hang out at TST during those weeks).  

I thought it was too simple to work.  I really did.  I had a handicap north of 19.  Between the "my swing" threads and later evolvr lessons (linked above), I got my handicap down to 12.2 at one point.  And it's continuing to drop.  Given where you are now, I bet you see more than a seven stroke drop in your scores after some good guided practice.

And even better, we'll teach you how to practice.  There's a lot more than "get a bucket and hit them."  In fact, since learning how to practice I've gotten far more out of 20 balls than I used to out of 100.  And you will too.

There's a lot of good golf to be played and we'd love to include you in it.

[dennyjones]

10 hours ago, Bizzle87 said:

I haven’t had any lessons yet.... after this week I’m thinking this is definitely the next step!!!

Actually, this probably should have been your very first step.   Please....find a good instructor and get some of the basics down.   The game will be a little less flusterating.    Without proper instruction it is very easy to repeat the same mistakes over and over which can eventually turn into a repeatable bad habit completely opposite of what is necessary to hit a good golf shot.

[DavidM]

Without lessons, you'll likely never figure it out. Everything you think a golf swing is - is probably wrong. 

[Vinsk]

If it feels good or comfortable, it’s wrong. If you go meticulously through a large bucket hitting beautiful iron shots, your video will show you’ve made zero progress. Then when frustration has reached its boiling point (so you think) you’ll make what feels like a ridiculous exaggeration of a move and again video will show you’ve made no changes. None. Zero. 

Once you finally twist yourself into the most uncomfortable position you can muster, you’ll have no ability to make any type of swing and hit the ball. If you shank it you swung well. If you stripe it.. you messed up somewhere.

So you wanna go at this on your own? Enjoy. Cry if you must, for the oceans are thirsty.