Inconsistent great ball striker

[stacks04]

I am in the same boat as you, except I call myself an inconsistent ball striker. If you were great you would not be inconsistent. If your tale was one of "I normally hit the ball great, for ten years its been a solid 5 h/c, then something changed the last 2 months and I have been inconsistent" thats what I call a great ball striker who has hit a drought. It really seems to be more of you being dishonest then you being great, your jumping all over everyone who even remotely suggest your just getting lucky on your good shots. If 66.666666% of your shots are crappy, then you are not great by any stretch of the imagination. had the ratio been 2/3 good then it might be a different story.

[Valleygolfer]

I am guessing, primarily from what I see in your sig, that you could use some help with the mental game. In one of the books, there is a chapter called fire your caddie. If you had a caddie that told you how bad you are after every shot that was less than optimal, you would fire them. So, fire the caddie in your head that is telling you that you suck and hire one that helps you shake it off and focus on the next shot.

Actually I stay pretty postitive inwardly, I am a little sarcastic so I may make a few cracks at my own expense, however I really expect to hit a good shot everytime I set up. I pretty much play every shot with as much focus as the first and pretty much always finish no matter what. Although I did take a beating on a par three yesterday and decided it was best to not waste any more or one's time. :p

[Valleygolfer]

I am in the same boat as you, except I call myself an inconsistent ball striker. If you were great you would not be inconsistent. If your tale was one of "I normally hit the ball great, for ten years its been a solid 5 h/c, then something changed the last 2 months and I have been inconsistent" thats what I call a great ball striker who has hit a drought. It really seems to be more of you being dishonest then you being great, your jumping all over everyone who even remotely suggest your just getting lucky on your good shots. If 66.666666% of your shots are crappy, then you are not great by any stretch of the imagination. had the ratio been 2/3 good then it might be a different story.

Ok stacks04 you win. I guess I am optmistic that the great ball striking should be the norm for me. Like I told my wife, I have high standards set for myself, I am just not fulfilling that end of the deal.

[Paz]

I never was irrational, just aggravated that I can't seem to capture the consistency. I know what I do wrong when I do it generally, I just don't why when I am focused on doing everything right I still make dumb mistakes, costing me shots. I hope that I eventually get used to my new swing and start playing better.

hahahahahahhaha. people who don't believe in luck are hilarious.

that is the EXACT same thing as saying you don't believe in good fortune or bad fortune. thats what luck is. Someone who aims right at the flag but pull slices the ball all the way across the left side of the green off the right side. The ball proceeds to then bounce off a rock lying in the rough and pop up in the air, where it proceeds to roll in the hole. You are telling me that the hacker planned that shot? If so, you must be delusional. I've done my fair share of blackjack card counting. If you have been anywhere near that arena or anything else involving chance you will know fluctuations are as normal as mother nature herself and things usually will even out in the end. A blackjack card counter has to play for over 400 hours to have a 99.9% chance of doubling their starting bankroll. After a long enough period of time, things even out. The problem is, card counters have a 0.5-1% advantage at best, so evening out for them means coming out with 101% of the money they threw out on the table...the "action". I digress, but I'm just proving a point. Chance, luck, fortune...whatever. It exists. That's why I've nailed a 4iron 200y to 10ft before, but generally only hit my 4i 180. We can get lucky with perfect timing and contact. don't mean to be rude or anything, i just don't see how anyone can think luck does not play a role in fluctuation

[CarlSpackler]

Actually I stay pretty postitive inwardly, I am a little sarcastic so I may make a few cracks at my own expense, however I really expect to hit a good shot everytime I set up. I pretty much play every shot with as much focus as the first and pretty much always finish no matter what. Although I did take a beating on a par three yesterday and decided it was best to not waste any more or one's time. :p

The best advice I can offer is to enjoy the game for what it is, ups, downs, etc. Constantly assess your game and work on what needs work, but enjoy every minute of it.

[Valleygolfer]

hahahahahahhaha. people who don't believe in luck are hilarious.

I do believe if I do everything right and all other elements far into place I am fortunate because of elements out of my control but those elements will be what they are no matter what.

I just believe what ever happens is because you have made it happen. Luck would require some outside influence to have things happen. Get it? You swung your club that way to get that outcome, whether you planned it or not. YOU controlled that club throught out the swing not some lucky fairie or lepracan. It only did what you told it to do. Just as cards are shuffled in the deck by a dealer, he put them there, each one whether he knew it or not. There is no way that one of the cards is going to be something else. When that card is drawn it will be the king of spades no matter what, drawn at that time. It doesn't matter if it sits there for two years. I say if a hacker makes a hole in one it is because he did all the right things at that moment, no pope or magician puts the ball in there. So IMHO, people like you are hilarious. Plus there should not be any relying on luck in card counting, it should be a skill.

[Valleygolfer]

The best advice I can offer is to enjoy the game for what it is, ups, downs, etc. Constantly assess your game and work on what needs work, but enjoy every minute of it.

I do need to enjoy it more, thanks for the input.

[JML22]

I'd rather be short and consistent
i played a 6700 yard course last night and played like shit because i kept goin for greens in reg that are just absolutely unreachable for me consistently at that distance.
I was trying to stretch out 3 irons and it led to a very bad round.
Basically, swing easy, be consistent, whatever distances yuo're hitting it'll be more enjoyable

[Weezy]

If you have to think about the things you need to get right then your handicap is pretty accurate at 20. Thats when you sort of know what to do but have fubdamental flaws you don't realize you have (flipping,tempo, etc) but because you occasionally "time" your flip or get the right temo you think you would be great once you can repeat it. Once you can swing without any swing thoughts and hit the ball solidly but not always in the right direction or with the right flight, then you will be "close". But bad shots 2/3 of the time is still hacker town no matter how good the 1/3 shot is. Get lessons to find the flaw that is causing the trouble because its certainly not that you are doing something slightly wrong. Ben hogan said he only hit 4 great shots a round, meaning he "slightly" mishit all of his other ones, how did he play so good if he didn't hit every shot perfect? He didn't have any fundamental flaws. Oh and btw being a pro golfer is far from being a golf pro, they usually have no clue how to analyze another swing as they are analyzing their own by feel and have no idea how your swing feels.

[Shorty]

You think that a third of your shots are "pro calibre". Therin lies your problem. Complete and utter lack of a sense of reality.
The "pro calibre" shots you are hitting are not pro calibre. You don't have any idea what pros do, otherwise you wouldn't say it.
Scoring at golf is about how good your bad shots are, not how good your good shots are.
Everyone hits good shots every round, even ones that have a result that pros would be happy with. It doesn't make them "pro calibre".
Like so many weekend golfers, you think that you "could shoot in the 70s" despite any evidence to support it.

[Valleygolfer]

You think that a third of your shots are "pro calibre". Therin lies your problem. Complete and utter lack of a sense of reality.

I feel like I should be able to shoot in the 70s at some point. I am disappointed that I don't shoot in the 80s every time out. I am realistic, I do hit very high quality shots at times that anyone would be happy with. I wouldn't be afraid to say they are pro like at times but overall I would say that I am nowhere near the talent of a pro. I don't know why or what you read to base your post on.

[Shorty]

I I don't know why or what you read to base your post on.

Your words: "I have to play like I expect a pro caliber shot but 1 out of three end up that way and the occasional two or three in a row."

[Valleygolfer]

Your words:

That's just it, I didn't say I was a pro just that shots come out that way. There is not enough consistency but high quality shots happen often enough that I cannot determine or plan for the result.

[iacas]

That's just it, I didn't say I was a pro just that shots come out that way. There is not enough consistency but high quality shots happen often enough that I cannot determine or plan for the result.

Two things:

a) I highly, highly doubt that your shots are pro quality. b) The shots you hit well are the anomalies. If you can accept b, you'll realize that you need to work on your game.

[mattttt25]

I can somewhat believe you to a point. I played Friday with a young kid, tough course, from the blues. He proceeded to shoot 14 pars and made them look very easy. The other four holes- three doubles and a triple. It sure didn't look like a 9 over round, but he just lost it on those holes. I'd call him an inconsistent great ball striker.

[westcyderydin]

practice your short game more than your long game, and practice smart with the time you give to long game.

and get lessons like the one guy said. you may have some move in your swing that requires perfect timing or something where you hit the ball great one time then shitty the next time.

[sean_miller]

practice your short game more than your long game, and practice smart with the time you give to long game.

He didn't mention problems with the short game (not that I read anyway). But he probably does have some unnecessary move in his swing - many people do.

[Valleygolfer]

I can somewhat believe you to a point. I played Friday with a young kid, tough course, from the blues. He proceeded to shoot 14 pars and made them look very easy. The other four holes- three doubles and a triple. It sure didn't look like a 9 over round, but he just lost it on those holes. I'd call him an inconsistent great ball striker.

You seem to understand what I am saying. I guess I hit good shots a little more frequently than I stated. It is the little chunk shots in between good ones that nickel and dime me in a round. Often I will nail a drive, top the second and nail the green with the third. If I could just eliminate some of those miss hits, I would be in great shape.

practice your short game more than your long game, and practice smart with the time you give to long game.

I agree and I have been. I don't usually have a problem hitting the green, and miss hits with the short irons are rare but you always need short game practice to stay sharp. I have a new lob wedge and have been hitting a ton of balls with it but I need to be closer to the pin though.