What was your turning point? Or was there one?

[socalsharky]

I have been back into golf for about 1-1/2 years now, after playing very rarely over the previous 15 years. I have gotten pretty serious about practice, have been taking lessons every two or three weeks with a great instructor, and I feel I have a pretty good understanding of the golf swing. However, my scores haven't really improved, and I am still subject to bouts of extremely poor shots. I can shoot scores anywhere from the low 90's to mid 100's (that is about 105). Sometimes when I stand over the ball, I am just not sure about what will happen on that particular shot.

I would like to ask those of you who did NOT pick up a club and immediately begin scoring in the 80's. For those of you who had to work to improve, started out in my range and now can consistently shoot in the 80's or lower:

Was there a turning point or a point at which everything just clicked? Or was it just a long slow grind?

Sometimes I feel like I am getting better, and I certainly feel I understand my swing better, but it doesn't necessarily translate to better shots and better scores.

[sean_miller]

There were a few milestones that led to plateaus. Sometimes it can seem like two steps forward and three steps back, but stick with it. And be reallistic - if we're not top players at any sport, why would golf be the exception?

Milestone 1. A repeatable swing. Takes about a year - the body has some little used muscles that are very important for golf. Working on a golf related fitness program can accelerate this part of the learning curve. See the Golf Digest website for some stretching and workouts. And walk the course whenever possible - good for fitness and to see the holes as they were designed to be seen. Milestone 2. Distance control - hard to get when your swing varies. Include lag putting in this one and you're almost there. Milestone 3. Course management. This should start on day one, but once you have some consistency in your game you can manage a course to fit your game and take advantage of all the shots in your repetoir. I made a lot of progress once I "mastered" 5-20 yard pitch and flop shots and hitting high straight long irons. Being in the fairway and not worryng about getting short-sided allowed me to enjoy the game more - regardless of scoring. PS. Penalty strokes are lost strokes - keep it in play.

[James_Black]

I've been playing for a few years now.
Had 2 breakthroughs so far.
One last year where I went from shooting 100+ to mid nineties in a matter of weeks.
Just had another one lately, shooting low mid 80's now and still improving.

Keep practising, once of the main things I did as outlined in the above post was keeping the ball in play.
It's better to hit a 5 iron off the tee and get the ball on the fairway and take your 2nd shot than hitting your 3rd off the tee.

[RIduffer]

This a great question, and I've always wanted to ask low-handicappers the same thing.

In terms of ballstriking, by biggest breakthrough was learning to hit the ball THEN the ground with my irons. Doesn't matter what type of swing you have--every good player does this every time. It sounds simple enough, but I think alot of people don't understand how an iron shot works. I was at the driving range a few days ago listening to a guy teach his son to play golf. He told the kid that pros take a divot with their irons, but said it was because you want the club to hit the turf just before making contact with the ball. I thought the same thing my first year playing.

Aside from that, I went from shooting around 100 to high-80s just from wedge and putter practice. I think you have to know you can hole-out in 3 shots or less almost everytime from inside 100 yards.

[socalsharky]

I think you have to know you can hole-out in 3 shots or less almost everytime from inside 100 yards.

That's a great point as well. Since my goal right now is to play no worse than bogey golf, that gives me three shots to get within 100 yards on a par 5, two shots on a par 4, etc. If I can learn to get down in 3 from inside 100Y, and eliminate penalty strokes, I'm pretty much there. I guess I always thought my ball striking would be better than it is at this stage of my development.

[Rexx]

For the full swing, I went from well over 100+ noob to a 90s shooter by one change (and practice). I discovered that if I formed that 90 degree angle between the club and left arm at the mid-point in the backswing, had the club pointed straight up (more or less) and felt like I was swinging the club straight up and down from there that I started to hit the ball with "incredible power". Actually, it was more like I finally could hit my pitching wedge a 100 yards. This swing was in comparison to the typical noob that swings at the ball like it's baseball (or teeball). Now, I was taking this new swing to the extreme. I would come from the inside on the downswing and eventually had it to where I was dropping my right shoulder way too much and my hips were practically facing the target at impact and I was flipping the club as it got stuck behind me. I'd block it out to the right and hit a 30+ yard hook on every tee shot. But hey, I was the only one of my friends that hooked the ball... it was great! :)

[RIduffer]

That's a great point as well. Since my goal right now is to play no worse than bogey golf, that gives me three shots to get within 100 yards on a par 5, two shots on a par 4, etc. If I can learn to get down in 3 from inside 100Y, and eliminate penalty strokes, I'm pretty much there. I guess I always thought my ball striking would be better than it is at this stage of my development.

The guys who got me into golfing are all single-digit handicappers, and they taught me to do what you're describing (keep it in play and make bogeys) so I wouldn't slow them down. One of them basically said, "Listen, it's going to take a while to start hitting the ball like us, but there is no reason you can't learn to chip and putt as well as we do." So I would hit a weak cut into the right rough, hit a 5-iron (fat) 150 yards, bump it onto the green and 2-putt. Not pretty, but since I didn't take forever, they kept inviting me to play with them. And, gradually, my ballstriking is catching up.

I think if you focus more on short game and course management you'll shoot lower scores, and take some of the pressure off your long game. Plus, hitting wedges alot will help out with ALL your clubs IMO.

[GaijinGolfer]

The turning point for me was when I began to understand how the grip can affect the clubhead at impact. I used to have problems with hitting a huge slice sometimes and I never understand how or why it happened and it wasnt until I began to pay attention to how I was gripping the club that I began to feel in control of my golf swing.

[jamo]

My milestones are more swing-based than score-based. When I changed my swing from a baseball style swing to a more golf-like swing, then when I started turning my hips rather than just swaying back and forth, then when I "fixed" my swing plane, though that's still a work in progress.

[Fatphil]

getting my fat ass over to the range every day at lunch for 35 min. Kept me out of the restaurants so I also lost some weigth! Having a club in my hand every day even for a few minutes kept me in touch with my body so I can "feel" were the club head, shaft and hands are at all times.

[dbuck]

+1 on going to the range and spend at least 50% of your time their on chipping and putting.

Now for one of my usual weird comments:

I do not underestimate the value of good instruction, but you might space your lessons out a little more if you have been taking them that long. I am kinda slow myself, but I would need a little more than 2-3 weeks between lessons to absorb and practice what I learned before adding another element.

[deronsizemore]

I have been back into golf for about 1-1/2 years now, after playing very rarely over the previous 15 years. I have gotten pretty serious about practice, have been taking lessons every two or three weeks with a great instructor, and I feel I have a pretty good understanding of the golf swing. However, my scores haven't really improved, and I am still subject to bouts of extremely poor shots. I can shoot scores anywhere from the low 90's to mid 100's (that is about 105). Sometimes when I stand over the ball, I am just not sure about what will happen on that particular shot.

I've played golf since the age of six or so. So, I feel like I probably picked it up faster/easier than most. Though college when I didn't practice much (much more intersting extracirricular activities) I would consider anything sub 80 a solid round. Most were low 80's. After college I had a lot more time to practice and it really came down to working on fundamentals and making my swing shorter and more efficient and mostly working on shots from 100 and in. Most of the time at the range, I'll hit nothing but wedges and then work on chipping and pitching. It just takes practice and persistance. I have to be the best that I can be at everything I do and I was on a mission to break 70 (which I finally did two years ago). Every person is different and has different goals.

[mst_coastie]

It just came one day... I was taking lessons like you, and still shooting in the 90's and dipping into the 80's if I was lucky. Then one lesson we really found something, now I am a 5.5.... If you stick it out and practice it will come. Feels amazing when you can finally shoot par or just a few over. Been playing seriously since January 2009, but I played a bit in my younger years so I had the fundamentals there.

[RCF]

I have to go back to the eighties, but my epiphany came after my first two lessons. I use the word epiphany because at that time I had been playing off and on for over 10 yrs before I took my first lesson.

Did not take enough lessons though because I could only hit well with irons and a 5 wood.

[RCF]

Having a club in my hand every day even for a few minutes kept me in touch with my body so I can "feel" were the club head, shaft and hands are at all times.

I believe that's more important than most people would believe.

[socalsharky]

Then one lesson we really found something, now I am a 5.5.... .

C'mon man---ya gotta tell me what that was!

[kurisu]

This is a great thread!

I haven't gone on a 18 holes course yet, but given how inconsistent I am on that 9 holes par 3's course I go often, I'm definitely a 110+ player.

Strangely enough, I'm quite good in the sand, but I (unfortunately?!) rarely end up in bunkers, most of my mistakes / lost strokes come from fat shots with my 56º wedge from the rough that go 5 yards…or fly over the green. That and my distance control on my putts. I am very ashamed to say I end up with 4 putts too often

But I have had those "aha!" moments during my lessons (3 times a month) and I've seen my progress as far as the golf swing goes (started from zero last August, never touched a club before that in my life, and I'm 32):
#1 the first time I realized why I was hitting airshot after airshot, and finally made contact.
#2 when I started to consistently feel my weight properly shifting back to the left on the downswing.
#3 and more recently, "slowing down" my swing so that I stopped being "handsy" at the top of the backswing, starting the transition. This lead to MUCH better contact because my body could execute the hip slide AND still be in sequence at impact.
#4 not sure what's the next step yet, but I know I still have to work on #2 and #3 because when I hit it great, I tend to feel over-confident and "forget" about all that… that's when things get ugly

That's why golf is awesome: it's so humbling and frustrating but yet so rewarding. I wish us all good luck !

[mst_coastie]

C'mon man---ya gotta tell me what that was!

Well your mileage will vary as everyone has different faults. For me it was all in my release, I had a big hold off, or lack of release if you will. Once I learned to properly release the club my drives went from 200 to 250 carry and my GIR's when from 2 or maybe 3 a round to about 14... But again this was just me.