For those that finally improved after a long time at double bogey golf

[bones75]

In the past I've posted on the struggles/frustrations of one my closest golfing buddies. He love, love, loves golf and it's wonderful.

It's just that he isn't improving. His profile:

- Mid 40s
- Pretty damn fit
- Plays or practices 50-100x a year for the last 8 years
- Generally doesn't take lessons, but some years he regularly did (gone through 3-4 swing coaches)
- averages 108 (got down to ~100 avg a few times, but it always goes back up). He plays from whites.
- His distances improve every year. He can carry a 5 iron 200yds on his rare perfect swings (2-3 a game keeps him going).
- His shot dispersion is incredibly large in all directions. He has both nasty pulls and nasty slices.
- He eats up penalty shots like they're M&M's.
- He gets pars, but always has at bunch of quad+'s (he plays out, but is a pace-of-play mindful golfer)
- He swings 100% on all swings (I am not exaggerating. It used to be 125% every swing).
- Decent/Above average short game.

He tries to play "smart" even. Like on a short dogleg par 4, he doesn't try to cut the corner, clubs and aims for the widest part of the fairway. So he takes out a mid iron, then swings the ^#&*$@ out of it, and more often than not finds himself in bigger *#(&#$.  As it may show, I personally thinks he swings too hard and is just losing control. Sometimes he agrees, but he just can't stop doing it (or even worse results come from swinging "easy").

Any stories of like situations?  If you had a friend like this, what would you suggest (other than "get a lesson")? Is it always like a mechanical thing that helps someone out in this situation?  like instruction or a swing change?  Or has anybody credited anything else to helping their game out / turning a corner?  I almost think he should take a year break, and start again w/ lessons. 

I used to think it was amusing. Now it just sucks.

 

[billchao]

18 minutes ago, bones75 said:

If you had a friend like this, what would you suggest (other than "get a lesson")? Is it always like a mechanical thing that helps someone out in this situation?

Obviously lessons will help, but it sounds like your friend needs to spend more time learning to play golf rather than making swings on the course.

Maybe try to change things up for him and force him to hit partial shots, like playing with a limited number of clubs or something.

[Patch]

Sounds sort of like my Grandson.. Tremendous full swing game, and nothing else. He pitches, chips, and putts like a Neanderthal killing dinner. Short game lessons were of no value.

I have seen others like the OP discribed. Too often.

I have come to the conclusion that some folks just can't play better golf. That, for what ever reason,  they will only reach a certain  talent level, and that's it. Golf is just not their game.

My suggestion to this type of golfer is to just keep playing, and have fun with the golf game they have. That scores around 100 are pretty average for amateurs.  

I'd also tell the non golfer, who likes to golf, that they might excell in some other sport. 

Edited October 10, 2019 by Patch

[bones75]

36 minutes ago, billchao said:

Maybe try to change things up for him and force him to hit partial shots, like playing with a limited number of clubs or something.

Imma put this on the list of things to run by him next time i see him.

[FlyingAce]

My husband does not get to play golf as much as I do and only has time on the weekends. He hits the ball decent enough to get pars and a few birdies here and there, yet he couldn’t break 90 for the longest time because he’d have double/triple/quad blowouts regularly. He was playing from the whites, so I convinced him to try playing from the hybrids and shortly thereafter he broke 90. He did not move back to the whites until he was consistently in the 80s. Moving forward does not always mean it is easier, but it kept him in play more often and lower his  chances of blowouts. Once he gets his confidence back, he plays the whites better. 

[gjunkie57]

That was me for years.  My swing was just WRONG! And no amount of driving range sessions fixed that until I got my swing to where I was hitting it solid.  Here is what I did:

1. Took lessons and learned what a square club face at impact does. A lot of instructors I went to assumed I knew. When my last instructor showed me I understood what I was supposed to do and things started to sync up.  Everyone learns differently.

2. moved up a set of tees. This got me in range to regularly make pars and an occasional birdie. Fun. This is building my confidence and making me hit shots I have not played before.

3. Took a short game lesson. I know alot of players who have NO TOUCH near or on the green. Its painful to watch.

Best to your friend. Its good he keeps pace.   I can hang with someone who shoots high scores but keeps it moving.   

[Carl3]

On 10/10/2019 at 6:32 PM, bones75 said:

In the past I've posted on the struggles/frustrations of one my closest golfing buddies. He love, love, loves golf and it's wonderful.

It's just that he isn't improving. His profile:

- Mid 40s
- Pretty damn fit
- Plays or practices 50-100x a year for the last 8 years
- Generally doesn't take lessons, but some years he regularly did (gone through 3-4 swing coaches)
- averages 108 (got down to ~100 avg a few times, but it always goes back up). He plays from whites.
- His distances improve every year. He can carry a 5 iron 200yds on his rare perfect swings (2-3 a game keeps him going).
- His shot dispersion is incredibly large in all directions. He has both nasty pulls and nasty slices.
- He eats up penalty shots like they're M&M's.
- He gets pars, but always has at bunch of quad+'s (he plays out, but is a pace-of-play mindful golfer)
- He swings 100% on all swings (I am not exaggerating. It used to be 125% every swing).
- Decent/Above average short game.

He tries to play "smart" even. Like on a short dogleg par 4, he doesn't try to cut the corner, clubs and aims for the widest part of the fairway. So he takes out a mid iron, then swings the ^#&*$@ out of it, and more often than not finds himself in bigger *#(&#$.  As it may show, I personally thinks he swings too hard and is just losing control. Sometimes he agrees, but he just can't stop doing it (or even worse results come from swinging "easy").

Any stories of like situations?  If you had a friend like this, what would you suggest (other than "get a lesson")? Is it always like a mechanical thing that helps someone out in this situation?  like instruction or a swing change?  Or has anybody credited anything else to helping their game out / turning a corner?  I almost think he should take a year break, and start again w/ lessons. 

I used to think it was amusing. Now it just sucks.

 

I played a course that had 8 par 3's and one par 4, I played 70 to 80 9-hole rounds a year and got to where I played from the back tees at -1, Two of the holes played 180 to 195. I think I really grooved my swing and learned to control where the ball would go and also learned the distances of my clubs. People would make fun of this course, but I would roundly beat them on a regular course. This year I switched to a par 71 70.3/130 course and had a number of rounds in the mid to low 70's.I also worked the heck out of being able to get up and down. About 10 years ago I was definitely a bogey golfer and could not break 80 and almost quit the game because of that fact. As far as getting this partner to do anything: you can lead a horse to water, but...

Edited October 13, 2019 by Carl3

[bones75]

I was talking about this w/ some randoms I was playing with today. One guy said if my friend is athletic in general, he should try lefty. He said one guy he knew played lefty for 10 years as a 110+ shooter. Then he switched to righty and was a 90 shooter in a year. However, this guy was right handed to begin with (idk why he started golf lefty).

Anyone heard of this?  That's a fairly big commitment I feel.