I thought I was improving...

[supermarvin76]

I am 30 years old, and have been golfing only a year. I thought I have been improving until my last two rounds. I only play 9 holes at a time, and am lucky to be able to get to the range once a week, and lucky to be able to play every other week.

Last year I was always in the 60s, (yes for 9 holes), and this year I started right where I left off with last year. My last 4 scores were 54, 51, 59, 59. See how I thought I was improving, and then BAM! Wake up call!

I don't know what to do, I love the game, but I just don't know how to improve. One thing that I like to do is hit some balls before I play, but only one course around here has a range at it. If I don't get to hit before I play, I think it gets in my head.

My trouble today was being able to hit well out of the rough, I just couldn't. If I am using the correct terminology, I think most of my shots from the rough were hit fat. I would take a pretty good size divot, and the ball would go about 100 yards.

If you understood my rambling, any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!

[GJBenn85]

I'm fighting the same problem right now in hitting most of my shots fat or topping the ball.  By hitting fat, I mean taking a canyon of a divot well behind the ball.  It's caused by a variety of things including playing the ball too far forward in your stance (part of my problem), too steep of a swing plane (part of my problem), and excessive body movement (my third problem).  I think addressing the swing plane will produce the greatest results, but obviously all three need to be fixed.

How is your swing plane?  Do you struggle off the tee or just in the rough and fairway?

[supermarvin76]

Last week at the range I began standing closer to the ball and swinging inside out. I was hitting awesome shots there. Now today when I tried to implement that on the course, it was horrendous. Off the tee is, ok. I say that loosely. Usually when I have a bad shot off the tee I can tell almost right away what I did wrong. I need to figure out how to work it in the rough. How do I read the lye in the rough and implement that to a decent swing to advance forward, and get out of the rough?

[x129]

I don't mean to be a smart ass but if your practice ~1 hour a week and play 9 holes/week, it will be very hard to show much improvement over the long term. That just isn't enough swings a week to see a lot of improvement once you get beyond the rank beginner level. This is true in just about any sport. In pretty much all of them you need 3-4x a week and 4+ hours to make improvements. Once you have the improvements, it takes a lot less effort to maintain them.

At a minimum find some ways to spent 15 mins a day at home making practice swings into an impact bag.  Or video tape you swing at home in front of mirrors and try and hit the right positions.

Originally Posted by supermarvin76

I am 30 years old, and have been golfing only a year. I thought I have been improving until my last two rounds. I only play 9 holes at a time, and am lucky to be able to get to the range once a week, and lucky to be able to play every other week.

Last year I was always in the 60s, (yes for 9 holes), and this year I started right where I left off with last year. My last 4 scores were 54, 51, 59, 59. See how I thought I was improving, and then BAM! Wake up call!

I don't know what to do, I love the game, but I just don't know how to improve. One thing that I like to do is hit some balls before I play, but only one course around here has a range at it. If I don't get to hit before I play, I think it gets in my head.

My trouble today was being able to hit well out of the rough, I just couldn't. If I am using the correct terminology, I think most of my shots from the rough were hit fat. I would take a pretty good size divot, and the ball would go about 100 yards.

If you understood my rambling, any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!

[newtogolf]

If you've only been golfing a year and haven't taken formal lessons you're expectations may not be realistic.  Most people here will tell you that hitting balls at the range is much easier than on a couse.  The mats provide a perfect lie, and the mats are much more forgiving of fat shots than real grass.  You can't practice hitting from an uneven lie, or out of deep rough on mats either.  Also addressing the ball, and lining up your shot is tougher on the course because you don't have visible lines on the mats or stalls to assist you.  We also tend to have selective memory at the range and ignore those first few shots with each club that slice or hook and focus on the shots after that which go straight.  Playing on a course you have to constantly switch clubs and you only get one swing to hit it, which for most is very different from their range practice where they hit each club 5 - 10 times before switching.  Playing golf is very different mentally as well, you're more tense, amped up and feel the pressure to show improvement which works against you.

I've been golfing about the same amount of time and have experienced what you're going though.  It takes time a lot of practice (as X129 points out), and patience.  If you're not taking lessons you should take some, and maybe have it on a course so the instructor can see exactly what you're doing versus at a range where you feel you're getting decent results.

[BrianJ]

Lessons are truly huge.  My normal golfing partner has been playing for 15 years, I started playing in September of 2009.  I am truly passionate about the game and do everything I can to improve.  I practice on the range and on the putting green.  I take lessons from a PGA pro and take notes on how I can improve.  I have taken video and use alignment rods.  The point of this is that my buddy does NONE of these things.  I have already exceeded his game by about 5 strokes a round.  I have broken 90 twice (85 and 89) and am continuing to improve.  It was not until I started taking lessons however that the basics really "clicked" for me.  I took a 45 minute lesson, and after it was done I stayed on the range and worked on what I had learned.  Something happened there and my swings became very natural feeling.  I could reproduce what we were talking about with just about every shot.  Lessons are the way to improve!!

All this being said, my buddy just doesn't have the time to work on these things like I do.  He continually gets frustrated out on the course when he hits it fat a lot, or blades it and sends it over the green.  If you aren't going to make the time (or just don't have the time to make) to practice and truly work on your game, then just accept it and enjoy the round of golf being outdoors and having fun.  He gets so angry but I try to make the point that he isn't going to get better by only going out once a weekend and trying to break 90 with no practice regimen at all.  He shouldn't be so angry if he cannot spend the time to get better.  Anyway, hopefully this helped somewhat!  Take some lessons from a good coach, you will improve

[Topper]

Welcome to world of high handicap golf.  If it's any consolation, I'm in the same boat.  Two weekends ago I hit my driver better than I ever have.  Almost every fairway through 36 holes.  Crushed my previous best scores.  Then Last weekend, I topped or pushed almost all shots with my driver and couldn't break 100.  I couldn't tell you what I did differently but it was clearly something.

[newtogolf]

Very true, I've played a number of different sports but I think golf is by far the most frustrating in that improvement is difficult to measure.  One day you can hit everything perfect and then the next for no apparent reason things go south.  I had bad days on the racquetball court, but nothing like the ups and downs I've seen in golf.  My instructor often points out that even at the pro level they are far from perfect, drives fly into the woods or water, chips shots roll off the greens, 100 yard wedge shots miss the flag by 20+ yards, yet these are the best of the best in the sport.   Man I love golf!

Originally Posted by Topper

Welcome to world of high handicap golf.  If it's any consolation, I'm in the same boat.  Two weekends ago I hit my driver better than I ever have.  Almost every fairway through 36 holes.  Crushed my previous best scores.  Then Last weekend, I topped or pushed almost all shots with my driver and couldn't break 100.  I couldn't tell you what I did differently but it was clearly something.

[robinoso]

I've just hit the year mark and know your pain. I had about a month to play multiple times a week and had three lessons. During that time I went from 105 to low 90s and three 85s. Since then I haven't had time ti practice and old habits are showing. I'm making time to practice and get after it before it slips. For me it's short game. If I get that under control even a tad I can get back down. You have to practice or you will stay stagnant with good shots here and there to trick you into thinking you are better than you are and I'm living proof. I think I should walk out and fire high 80 or low 90 and then I can get right to 100 with no practice. As an example I shot 6 over on front and 20 over on the back. Just focus on the good and practice! The beginning is there, but consitance comes from practice.