How good should I be this early on?!

[madcityscott]

My advice on lessons is:

- Take solo lessons if you can afford it (group lessons are fine for an intro to the game, but you need individual attention).

- Include video in your lessons. An instructor can try to explain to you what you're doing, but it's not the same as seeing it yourself.

- Don't be afraid to find a new instructor if it's not working out. Ask for recommendations from other golfers, pro shop guys, the starter, etc.

Good luck! It's a maddening but addicting game.

[TheNatural]

I started 3 yrs ago this June. ive had ups and downs. the wife has been the biggest obstacle to playing sheesh. anyway, dont let snooty players discourage you when paired with them! when they started they were also bad.....I have not had the smarts to take lessons, when I started, but I score 99 100 from the blues.. My biggest challenge was hitting balls from the fairway, LOL. Most of my practice was chipping and pitching from the backyard(rough depth) As a routine, I would always keep my left arm rigid when making a practice swing on the fairway to make sure I had the right amount of grip, less likely to hit it fat or skull..it worked for me anyway. As a previous poster said you will make advances in your game and try keep from losing them, and some days your play will go downhill....I am blessed with size and swing power and have recently found my drive again, putting it all together is my next goal and avoiding blow up holes. BUT 55 is great for a 9 hole.

[elsito99]

Everybody progresses at their own pace. For instance my father and I started at the same time, DEC 06.

On my second round I made a birdie, and on my third round shot 95 on a 71.3/ 129 course. He shot 120's mostly. I hit it pretty good because I could control my "slice" naturally, so I didn't miss many FW's. Since then I started changing my swing to a more straight shot, and have shot basically 90's since then, one time an 86. Meanwhile my father kept practicing and now is shooting 90's consistently, so yeah, two different paths to the same location.

[DJYoshi]

also I would suggest:
charting to help you get better.

map how many fairways you hit, putts you took, type of shots you had to hit during the round...and as many stats as possible. it helps you to work on things that may not seem so obvious. like pp's have said..
everyone progresses at their own rate.
If you keep your core fundamentals, and take the time to fully understand:
why does the ball act like this when I do x,y,z... you'll seriously improve with a quickness b/c you'll know from your fundamentals and understanding of the adverse affects your swing can have on the ball...so then you can fix it on the spot and not be doomed to poor practice at the range, back yard, etc.

you'll go thru a period where you see nothing but steady improvements... and if you're like me, take 10 steps back.

my 1st year i went from shooting in the 120's down to 100's down to 90's down to the 80's. last year was my 2nd and I dropped down into the 70's every now and again...but consistently in the 80's.... THEN i had my 10 steps back for 2 - 3 months where I couldn't get the ball off the tee... it was my charles barkley phase where I would pause in mid backswing b/c it didn't feel right... fastforward 2 months of not playing, and reading, understanding has helped me to correct what I did wrong.

and above all: don't keep on taking swing advice from random ppl.
if your swing works, and you know it works for you...then it works.
I think the worst thing you can do is let people that either may be hackers that read a whole lot...or players that want to flex how nasty they are... screw up your swing. you have an instructor. don't hesitate to go back to him/her for corrections when you find yourself getting into a bad habbit.

lastly....f*** distance...i said it in my op and i'll say it again.
accuracy is the key.. you're trying to get the ball into a small hole 450 yards down the fairway. even if you go 5 iron 5 iron chip or pitch, making good contact, establishing ball flight and your preferred miss pattern, you'll know what you can do....and don't even bother with working the ball at this point. i learned how to work it last year and all that crap....and it completely messed up my feeble mind.

[ZaPPPa]

One more thing: Don't get hung up on 'How good should I be at X months'. The number of months you've played does not mean anything if you don't know how often you play compared to others. If you go out for 18 holes 365 days a year, you will obviously progress faster than someone who goes out once a week or once a month.

Practice, practice, play, play is the best way to make progress. Chipping greens generally don't cost money to use and they are the best way to bring your score down.

[skwon11]

Like everybody else, I think you're doing just fine.

Not that my handicap lets me dispense advice but I always say, regardless of how good you are, have small goals along the way. The first lesson I took, the teacher told me that the next time on the range, my goal should be no ground balls. So instead of focusing on other things that were getting ahead of myself and thus get me frustrated, that's what I thought about and did.

My goals now are; no slices with any of my clubs when I'm at the range and no 4 putts on the greens. Small goals.