How good should I be this early on?!

[Azprobe]

So, I'm getting a late start to this whole golf-thing (35yoa)...

I started about 6 weeks ago... I've been taking lessons on the weekend, and I hit the driving range mid-week as well... I can drive about 150-175 yards, I get solid contact about 75% of the time, and it goes straight about 20% of the time. Mostly it slices. This is with a driver, off the tee.

With a 7 iron off the turf, I'm hitting it solidly about 50% of the time, and it goes about 70 or 80 yards about 75% of the time... sometimes more, sometimes less.

Wow, that's a lot of percentages!

Is that normal for where I am in my golf career, or should I be better by this point? I'm just curious what other golfers' experiences have been this early on...

I'm new to the forum, and so far I like it! Thanks all...

[Chippinfoo]

I'm 44 years old. Been playing since the end of November. I'd say you're doing fine. At least similar to me, (I don't swing a driver at all.)
My irons are all I've been using. 3-iron about 200 yards The accuracy and consistency are getting better it seems.
From my perspective, I think the elusive 300yard driver hit amongst my co-workers is over rated, because by the time they chip back onto the fairways out of the woods, we usually reach the green with the same amount of strokes.
If not a pro lesson, grab some videos, about the basics. Leadbetter, McCord have some good ones that I am trying to absorb.

[Stacey_E]

I'd say you are right on track. Don't let 'em fool ya. Honing your game takes YEARS, not weeks, or months but YEARS. Learn the game from the green back, like I wish I did, and always know that SCORE is the most important thing PERIOD. Progress will come in plateaus. You will see great improvements at times, then you will fight to hold those improvements, then something else will click. That is just the nature of this game.

Good Luck and welcome to TheSandtrap!

[bigmick]

Congrats on picking up the game! I too got a late start (34) as I just got interested about 6-8 months ago. Since then I have hit the range (approx. twice a week at least when I can) and have taken 3-4 lessons so far. The lessons have been very helpful, and probably the most underrated thing a person new to golf can do to improve. As far as your progress, looks to me you are off to a good start. I am just starting to increase my distance (driver @ 190-200yds on a good one / 9-iron @ 100 yds. - far from long, but getting more consistent).

As stated earlier (and as my instructor always tells me) progress will come in plateaus & incrementally. Since I began I have seen alot of improvement with better/more consistent contact. Each of the last 3 times I have gone out for a round with my buddy (who has been playing for over 15 years, and got me interested in the game) he tells me he can see alot of improvement, and I can see & feel it too.

Just don't get caught up in distance and concentrate on good swing mechanics and consistent contact, and I'm sure the distance will come (at least that is what I keep telling myself )

Good luck and welcome to the forum!

[Azprobe]

Wow, thanks for the great info so far! That's an interesting point, learning from the green, backwards... I've played twice on a local 9-hole course and I've been focusing so much on the long ball, I pretty much give up once I get close to the pin... I'm probably not going to win too many majors that way, eh? :)

If anyone else has any generic info for a total newbie, I'm all ears...

[ZaPPPa]

A big part of the game is to play smart. I started about a year ago and spent most my time practicing on the range and chipping greens. I figured the game wouldn't be fun until I had at least the basics down.

Once I started to hit >75% of my irons solidly and I learned my way around the chipping green, I started to go out and play. There is no better feeling than seeing your hard work on the driving range being paid off when you hit an 8I from 140 yards out and it lands solidly on the green. Shanking and skulling... not so fun.

As for playing smart: If you have 200 yards to go to the green after your drive on a par 4, there is nothing wrong with taking 2 pitching wedge shots and getting it there in two. You're not playing for birdie (yet), so focus on getting GIR+1 and build your way up. No need to whip out that 5W and hit it in the woods for a quadruple bogey.

For only six weeks you're doing fine. If your 3I or 4I are giving you trouble, don't worry.. those take a long time to get working right. And like I said, if you play for GIR+1, you don't really need them anyway. And if your driver isn't doing so well, there's nothing wrong with taking a 5W off the tee.
Today I played a 6I, 7I, chip, 2 putt on a 380y par4 for bogey even though I could have bombed a driver or tried a 5W instead. But the 6I and 7I got me close enough and was the smarter solution. The hole after that I got cocky and tried the 4H from 200+ yards out with disastrous results. Deep rough, multiple shots to try and get it out.. ended up scoring a 9 on a par 5. Should have done the PW-PW or 8I-SW or something.

[Damien45]

I'd say you are right on track. Don't let 'em fool ya. Honing your game takes YEARS, not weeks, or months but YEARS.

The bold highlighted part is OUTSTANDING advice! It took me years+ to realize that was the way to go. I too was soo focused on getting to the green that I forgot to learn what to do once I got there!

Take your time grooving your swing. I didn't take a full swing with my irons for the longest time. What I was trying to do was to be consistant. As my swing got steady, the back swing became longer. Eventually I was taking full swings and didn't realize it. You don't have to be long to be good. Work on steady ball contact and enjoy.

[Dub]

Keep taking those lessons and working in between them. I think you are so very wise to proceed in this manner. I have great respect for those who go this route.

I didn't pick up the game until I was in my mid twenties. I took a buddy's strong advice and was fitted for a set of nock off clones. It turns out that I actually did need the extra length.

After that I read and re-read buddies old golf magazines and watched a lot of old videos. I didn't have the funds to spend on lessons and hard core range time. It is no wonder that my swing turned out to be an "old school" style swing with happy feet and a loud lower body. Had I sought instruction early on I would have learned a much more solid, smooth, accurate and powerful swing from the start and not been left with certain bad habits to unlearn later.

It is so hard to unlearn the wrong stuff and get the correct methods down. It will feel alien.

Stick with the lessons!!!! You are well on the right track more than you probably realize. Learning an efficient swing from a qualified pro will also better ensure a painfree swing that will see you well beyond retirement. I sure hope to be enjoying this game at that point!!!! It would suck to have all the time off but couldn't play!!!

Don't be afraid to get a putting and chipping lesson or two...even while you are learning the full swing. It will give you something else to switch to when you get full swing tired at practice and need to spend an hour or two doing something else.

Oh yeah...one final thing.....don't let everyone you golf with become your instructor....for some reason folks think they need to jump and slap bandaids over everything a new golfer does. This is what your pro is for!!!! Have one guru and enjoy yourself. Golf courses and fresh air are healing combinations good for serious stress relief. Don't let the mechanics of the game bog you down and prevent this simple pleasure of being outside and enjoying a good walk or ride through paradise.

[David in FL]

Sounds about right to me too.

FWIW......you'll find that you'll make significant progress pretty quickly, then your progress will slow. It's normal......don't get discouraged that your improvement doesn't continue at the same rate that you're currently experiencing. Golf isn't all that tough to play at a level where you can have a tremendous amount of enjoyment, but it's quite difficult to play well. Absent some extraordinary athletic talent and a tremendous amount of work, practice, and discipline, it takes awhile to get there.

Enjoy the game, and don't expect too much, too early.....the damn game is frustrating enough as it is!

[chriskzoo]

Here's the advice I gave a friedn who had been playing for a couple years, but never really was consistent enough to put a round together in the 90's.

Everybody has a few clubs (maybe a 5 wood, 5 iron, 8 iron, and wedge) that they feel confident over when they start out. Don't use anything but those clubs. At this point in your game, your problem is assuredly consistency, and not distance control. So as enticing as it might be to try and lash one out there with a driver, you're going to be far better off in the fairway at 170 yards 75% of the time than you are slicing it all over in hopes of that one 270 yard drive right down the middle.

Finally, the cardinal sin and most frustrating part when good golfers get paired with newer golfers - forget the practice swings. Nothing wastes more time and is more detrimental to your game than taking 2 or 3 practice swings and THEN hoping you an repeat that in actually hitting the ball. If you want to swing the club a little while others are hitting, by all means build up a little groove. But when it's your turn to hit, put the ball in the ground and hit it.

[DJYoshi]

chris makes a great point.
when I 1st started, my money club was my 7 iron.
2 seasons ago, whenever I wanted to be comfortable, even if it meant laying up on a par 4 to get me to that 140 - 150 range, I'd hit whatever so I could have a 7 iron onto the green.
Distance does matter in the game, but not at this point.
If you're already doing lessons, it doesn't hurt to keep taking them. hit the range as often as possible.
This game is crazy, and the slightest thing that you may not notice, your swing coach may.

It's my 3rd year, and I'll revisit my dad's friend who's a college golf coach to make sure that I didn't mess up my simple thing:
address, grip, swing plane, mechanics during the season.

other than that, keep hitting them well. the distance will come as you get more and more comfortable with the golf swing. everyone progresses at their own rate, but if you keep on working, it'll come quicker.

If you're a nut like me who plays 4 - 6 days a week and hits the range when i can't get out to play....then you'll end up finding your game quicker than others that touch a club once a week total.

welcome to the board & to this game that will make you CRAZY at times...but be so freakin rewarding when it comes.

[JetFan1983]

Cool thread! I started playing in May 2008 (as my sig indicates) so I guess I'm almost 11 months into my "golf career." I've only played once since October though...

Anyway, let me tell you right now that this game is HARD, and I've lost a lot of golf balls in the last year....I've wanted to break clubs, quit, never look at a golf ball again various times as well.

But it's those moments of "Wow, did that really just go in the hole?" that really keep you coming back. At about my 4th month of playing the game (18 holes on the weekend, 2-3 range sessions for one hour each per week after work), I holed out a 40 yard sand wedge for my very first birdie on a 180 yard par-3.

Your swing will go through ENORMOUS changes over the next year. Hell, each time you suit up and go out and play, it's going to be different. This is very hard to deal with early on. One day you're hitting your 9-iron 100 yards and the next day you can't get it airborn. The day after that you're hitting it 100 yards again and then the next day you hit it 140! That quickly disappears and it's back to not being able to get it airborn again. This game is crazy, crazy, crazy, man, let me tell you.

I couldn't hit my driver straight at all until 3-4 months in, maybe longer, and I was hitting the range quit a bit last summer. I was addicted. I think things started to get better faster for me when I went out and bought a bunch of golf books and read them 5-6 times each.

Books I'd recommend that you get: Ben Hogan's Fundamentals of Golf: Five Lessons and Golf Digest's Breaking 100, 90, 80 . Both are simply written and can tell you everything you need to know about the game in your 1st year.

I played one round of golf two weeks ago when it was warm out and shot about a 100? I didn't keep score. I'd argue that that is pretty good for a weekend duffer like myself 11 months into the game. I used to put up numbers like 130, 140 so being able to hit 100 consistently now is decent enough.

The best advice I can give you is to STUDY this game. Read books, listen to your golf teacher, and practice with a purpose, but in the end, the best players are their own best teacher. Experiment out there. Don't just beat balls like an a-hole at the range. It won't get you anywhere except further ingraining bad swing habits. But doing the right things on the practice range is BRUTAL (at least it is for me, getting my body to do what I want it to), and it takes a lot of time and a lot of patience. Trust what you're learning and commit to it and I promise you, with time, you will find your scores will start to drop dramatically. You'll go from shooting 130, 140 to the high 90s in no time with hard work and dedication in about 6-7 months. Hell, in Ben Hogan's book he says that the average male is capable of breaking 80 in just six months with the proper instruction.

Anyway, just be patient and be smart about how you use your time practicing. Obviously don't get mad at yourself if you aren't breaking 80 in six months, or even 90 or 100. Those scores will drop quickly once you ingrain a fundamentally sound, repeatable golf swing into your anatomy. Good luck!!!

[rjfan91]

Try to stay positive.

You'll see threads on here about people destroying their clubs in fits of rage. Stay positive and realize bad shots are part of the game.

This is also needed when you regress. It's a weird game. Once you start playing regularly, you'll be making progress resulting in lower scores. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, your scores will rise up. Try to identify what is causing it by keeping track. The software sold on this site is decent for that. I don't mean to suck up to Eric and the boys at the site, but it really is a work smarter type of thing.

Resist the advice of a playing partner that confuses him/herself with a pro. Focus on what your instructor is teaching you. Your pro isn't teaching you everything you need to know each lesson. He/She is focusing on one or two items and working on those before moving on to something else.

As another person has stated, you are doing the right stuff. Taking lessons and working on it at the range between lessons is what you are supposed to do. Make sure one of your lessons centers around putting.

This is my 3rd season. I don't know that I broke 100 in my first season. I joined a golf association that played weekly and slowly got better. I broke 80 (78) for the first time last summer and shot in the low 80s for a month or so (6 or 7 rounds). By the end of the season, I was back up to shooting in the upper 80s/low 90s.

Keep at it, it'll come.

[wannabe]

Great thread. I've taken a few lessons so far this year, worked at the range, and just played my first round - a remarkable 137!! This from a guy who has played one round a year for the past decade or so, and toyed around at the range over that same period of time.

This year I want to definitely break 100. Only 37 strokes to go!

I'm focusing mostly on enjoying the process, & fortunately I love the practicing almost as much as the playing. I always start with chipping & pitching, then move on to the long game. I love the advice on here to work from the green backward, even if it takes you three 7-iron shots to get within your short game distance. I'm gonna take that seriously to heart my next round.

The other advice I'm giving myself this year is to lay off the booze & cigars during the round, since I'm actually trying to improve my game and not just have "guy time". That's why God created a 19th hole, right?

[Dpricenator]

I'm with you on leaving out the booze or beer, but I have to have a good cigar while I'm playing, or 2 if I'm playing 18. Of course cigars are 2nd only to my wife and kids, and golf a close 3rd.

Remeber this is a GAME. Meant to me relaxing and enjoyable. Keep practicing, and everything will fall into place. Or at least that's what I tell myself.

[TMO]

So, I'm getting a late start to this whole golf-thing (35yoa)...

Not bad at all. Curious but what are your goals?

[Ian]

So, I'm getting a late start to this whole golf-thing (35yoa)...

Id say your doing very well, i cannot compare that to my expirences as i started at 12 years old, however my dad started when he was around 58, (same time i did) your right about where he was when he started, so basically average the rate you will improve depends on your dedication and your natural ability for instance last summer i read golf magazines 24/7, read golf books, and at any time of he day could be found playing 18 holes. In that summer i went from a 18-> 7 handicap which i think is a great improvement, i hope to get below a 5 this year. basically quit your job and golf. haha

[Azprobe]

Not bad at all. Curious but what are your goals?

That's a good question - My primary motivation was career related - I am an account manager for a pretty big telecom firm, and golf is just a necessary part of the schmoozing - ProAm tournaments, long lunches with clients, etc. Once I started going out to hit at the driving range, well, I'm falling in love with it... that feeling that you get when you hit a long/straight drive is unbelievable, even if it's only one out of the 75 ball basket.

If I can consistently shoot high 90's/low 100's, I'll be thrilled... I went out to play a 9-hole executive course today with a buddy from work, and shot a 55 (not great) but I hit some pretty significant milestones: 1) on one of the holes I hit my first "legitimate" par ... no wiffs on the opening drive, no gimmeys, just a good par. 2) I went all 9 holes without losing my ball... considering the first time I went out, I lost like 5 or 6, this is progress! 3) Not a great milestone, but I broke my 3-wood on a fairway shot ... clubface just smashed right off the shaft. The ball would have gone straight otherwise, I'm sure of it. :)