Am I Experiencing a Normal Beginner's Rut?

[Rbens]

10 minutes ago, Vinsk said:

Either you’re conning yourself a bit here or the pro wasn’t that great. The chance that your swing with the pro vs your swing in the course were noticeably different is slim.

The swing and connection was never perfect of course but I would say 6 out of 10 balls would have been passable on the course, whereas at the moment I’m lucky if i get 2 that are any good. The last couple of times at the range haven’t been an improvement though so I don’t think I’d turn up if I had a lesson tomorrow and be anything other than rubbish. 

3 hours ago, Cantankerish said:

Rbens, you can see my handicap.  My last outing was two weeks ago.  I shot 112.  Then I went to the range. My striking was as bad as it has been in ages.  I have been so disgusted about it that I have not been back, not been active on this site. and I am kinda turned off at the moment.

I am headed out this weekend.  We will see.  But that is the game right there.  It takes a sick mind to enjoy this masochistic mess.

 

Yeah.............I kinda do love it.

The last two weeks I had thought the same - just get out and play but after three rounds of completely awful play I don’t think I can manage it this weekend. 

What is hampering you at the moment? Is it any one thing or just overall bad play? 

[Rbens]

2 hours ago, jlbos83 said:

The lessons got you started, perhaps it is time for a bit of a refresher, before the less attractive habits get more ingrained.  I also think you might be focusing too much on the result, and not on the process (a bit cliché, I know).  But getting started the feel of those rare good shots is what I think keeps you going.  And then think about what you were doing when you hit them.  I often find the good ones come when I am fed up, and don't seem to care, leaving my mind kind of blank.  It is a challenge, but getting you head into that space may also help.

That’s where I’m at. I know I need to stop whatever it is I’m doing before I make it even worse. I was always going to need more lessons to hone everything but I was hoping I’d have the basics down. I am definitely overthinking it out in the course but not on purpose, if that makes sense? I can’t seem to help it - the overthinking, the obvious head movement - no matter how much people say don’t do it, it happens. 

[CarlSpackler]

The best advice I can offer @Rbens is to disassociate enjoyment the game with what you score. In other words, don't stop playing because you are not scoring good. You need to learn to live with, and maybe even enjoy rough (pun intended) rounds of golf.

[Rbens]

10 minutes ago, CarlSpackler said:

The best advice I can offer @Rbens is to disassociate enjoyment the game with what you score. In other words, don't stop playing because you are not scoring good. You need to learn to live with, and maybe even enjoy rough (pun intended) rounds of golf.

Yep I hear that and despite how it might seem I’d still rather be out trying to play than not playing but I do think I need a break. My “good” rounds would be deemed awful for most (I know it’s all relative to the level) so my bad can be really, really poor. I can cope with learning on the job but there comes a point where it gets a little embarrassing. Luckily I know when to pick up and move on. And nobody, no matter what they say, wants to see me hacking my way to 100 yards in four shots. It’s not fair on them either. 

I know there’s something in there as I’ve managed to birdie a par 4 a month or so back with three different shot types. 

I don’t want to be brilliant, I just want to get around the course without being terrible. I’ve enjoyed everything up until the last few weeks. 

Edited July 26, 2019 by Rbens

[Rbens]

44 minutes ago, Patch said:

Welcome to TST. Your "rant" wasn't too long. In fact I enjoyed reading it. At the end, I was thinking to myself "yeah, been there, done that".

As already mentioned, highs, and lows are a part of everyone's golf game. It matters little what one's talent level is. 

I have approached the problem of having my game take a dump on me, a few different ways.

One is to put my clubs away for a few days, and go fishing. Anything to get my mind off my mind off the iissue. Most of the time when I picked up my clubs again, the problem was gone. 

Next, I might say "screw it" and just play through the issue. Sometimes I might just play with one or two clubs. I kknow I have a good swing in me. Just need to work my way back to it. 

My third answer, which seems to work well for me, is my score card. I divide the 18 holes into 6 groups of three holes. Each group gives me 6 starting, and finishing points. Six fresh starts if you will. If I have a run of 3 bad holes, they are forgotten with the next 3 hole restart. I have this notion that a golfer can let a bad hole or three, ruin their whole round, which could lead to another bad round, and so on. 

Last, I have made it a point to understand the various causes of a poor swing, and/or ball flight. This took me a year or more to learn, as far as my own swing is concerned. This allows me to be able to do an "on course" fix when something starts going wrong. I have saved myself many, many rounds of golf fixing my swing before I made it worse. 

Main thing is not to give up, and keep a positive attitude. Things usually get better with positive perseverance. 

 

That’s good to know I suppose and some handy tips I’ll have a look at incorporating into my game (especially the 3 x 6 rather than the 2 x 9).

Perhaps I am being a little impatient but like I say, I’m not trying to be a class golfer and I’d be happy with being steady and unspectacular. I think my standards are fairly low so when I’m not even matching them, i think I’m in a bit of bother.

You mention your swing fix and I’m hoping that’s something I can learn as I go on because I could definitely do with that to fall back on. To be able to apply a fix would be a godsend. 

I’m still positive I can get myself sorted with lessons and in time, it’s more a short term issue I have with the mentality side of it. I see little point in getting out there and risking losing any more confidence.

Thanks for the advice.

[Cantankerish]

On 7/26/2019 at 2:56 PM, Rbens said:

The swing and connection was never perfect of course but I would say 6 out of 10 balls would have been passable on the course, whereas at the moment I’m lucky if i get 2 that are any good. The last couple of times at the range haven’t been an improvement though so I don’t think I’d turn up if I had a lesson tomorrow and be anything other than rubbish. 

The last two weeks I had thought the same - just get out and play but after three rounds of completely awful play I don’t think I can manage it this weekend. 

What is hampering you at the moment? Is it any one thing or just overall bad play? 

Two minor details are doing this:

1. My swing is all wrong.  I know of two glaring deficiencies in my swing.  (a) My weight does not come forward and (b) my downswing is about 15 degrees too steep.  They are both huge errors and together they will continue to prevent me from consistently hitting the ball the way I want to.  Until you learn to do it right, your good days and bad days are going to be governed by lots of elements that are beyond your control.

2. My head is up my butt.  Some features of a proper swing I have achieved conscious competence of.  Practice is supposed to make it an unconscious element of my swing.  But in practice I routinely fall back into the habits that are well-worn in my brain.  It is a tremendous help that you saw a trainer FIRST.  Hopefully you can avoid this particular giant waste of time and effort.

 

And ya know what? I carded my best score ever yesterday.  Amen, brutha