What keeps you from being a better golfer?

[Thrdroc]

In my case i would say its consistency. I would say 1 out of 10 shots is a top and again 1 out of 10 shots is hitting the ball fat. So in a round of 90 there is 18 shots that shouldn't have been but were. Then I also have a natural draw most of the time like 6 out of 10. And a couple of those those draw shots go to far left and I miss greens because of it and have to scramble for par.

I also wish i could hit my driver. I know it won't really make me that much better of a player but it would be nice.

[total consciousness]

i'm too impatient.

[rmccabe6]

lack of time and money to practice correctly

[elivate]

Time... If you can't play or practice you won't get better... No matter how hard I try I rarely get to play 2 rounds per week. To me that is the minimum number you have to play in order to improve... And you need to throw in some practice as well... So if I did not have to work full time I would be a better golfer... I would be too poor to golf if I did not ave a job, though...

[cbe_golfer]

1. A consistent repeating swing. ( actually my driving range swing! )
2. Short game control.
3. Course management.

[allin]

That 8 inch dense material between my ears prevents me from taking my driving range swing on to the course.

[Clubswinger21]

Iron play. Anything 100 yards and out I feel I should be getting the ball closer to the hole and on average hitting more greens. Im pretty good with up and downs but I cant miss 11 out 18 greens and expect to get away with par everytime. My income doesnt allow me to buy the iron/shaft combo that suits my game, so I find my self settling on the next best thing.

Working full time and Not being able to play as much as I want is also an issue.

[Cleveland Gunmetal]

1. Money - With a unlimited amount of money I could get lessons from a great instructor and no doubt would get much better. Consistant lesson and instruction is what I need, but is also what I cannot afford.

2. Job - Or call it time. Of course with an unlimited amount of #1 I could quit my job and focus on my golf game.

3. Time - Ok, so I'll call #3 time. I just don't get out as much as I'd like.

[Sherpat]

1. Greens fees near me that are rapidly approaching the price of a used Buick.

2. An unbelievably sore right elbow I seemed to have developed over the past few weeks after going to the range every day for several months straight. Seriously, I've having trouble doing things like turning doorknobs all of the sudden. Thank god for Ibuprofen and Maker's Mark.

[lamebums]

In my case i would say its consistency. I would say 1 out of 10 shots is a top and again 1 out of 10 shots is hitting the ball fat. So in a round of 90 there is 18 shots that shouldn't have been but were. Then I also have a natural draw most of the time like 6 out of 10. And a couple of those those draw shots go to far left and I miss greens because of it and have to scramble for par.

Consistency is also my problem. 1 out of 10 times, I'll hit it off the toe, another 1 out of 10, I'll skull it, and 1 out of 10, I'll hit it fat. Once in a blue moon, I'll also hit a topper.

I have a problem with skulling my chips - my "on the course" fix was instead to pitch the ball whenever possible. Also, I'm spraying my tee shots--I hit almost no fairways. In a good day, I'll hit 3. I'm spending a lot of time in the rough, under trees, and other bad lies. My course management is so-so, but I have a hard time learning my lesson. I've put three balls in the water in a row when I tried to carry the lake 3 times with my 3 wood, or something like that. I don't cut my losses, I keep trying until I get what I want, usually racking up a big score in the process. If I got my shit together, and fixed all of the above problems, I'd be a 5 handicap. If I could putt, I'd be scratch.

[wengerlaw]

I am hindered by a lack of consistency and a lack of time to practice (which go hand-in-hand).

Also, when I am on the course, I struggle to keep my swing tempo in check. When I get frustrated, I tend to grip the club tight and swing for the fences. I have been working on keeping my grip and forearms loose and thinking "smoooooooth and easy" during my swing. I'd rather hit the ball with a 90 mph swing and make solid contact than with a 115 mph swing that I top or hit off the heel of the club.

[Dent]

Id have to say Driving consistency, chipping and putting.

[jeffr92]

Chipping, pitching, and Iron accuracy. I'll usually have good distances on my irons, but i'll push them or pull them giving me a pitch or a chip into the green. That's where my score rapidly increases; I'm better out of the bunker than I am on the fringe.

[Jeepthrills]

Consistency is the easy answer. I know I have the ability to be a better player. Of the two nines I regularly play I have had birdies in the last two years on 15 of the holes. I have eagled two of them including one of them twice. I know when I stand on the first tee I am capable of shooting par of better.

Here is a typical round for me. I play reasonably well, pars and bogeys, for 6-7 holes of a typical 9. I will usually throw in a double just for kicks and occasionally ballance it out with a birdie. Unfortunately I will also throw in an occasional blow up hole that can cause residual problems for a couple holes after that. Below I have listed my 5 biggest road blocks to a more consistent game.

1. Time is first and foremost. I know that I need to practice to get better. I play two 9 hole rounds each week. The course I play on Sundays does not have a range. The one I play on Wednesdays does, but I barely get there in time to put on my shoes, walk to the first tee and take a practice swing.

2. Work . This is the reason for number 1. I don't have a 9-5 type of job. I run two gyms that cater to 9-5er's. Therefore, I am at work too late some days to put in the work to get better. I used to see a client at his home a few miles from the driving range. He would ofent cancel as I was on the way there and I would make a side trip. Unfortunately my clubs are in my wifes Durango as I drive a Ram now and can't keep them with me.

3. Family . It's hard to justify going to the range when I work long hours and don't see my family enough anyway. We go to the range together occasionally, but I end up helping everyone else.

4. Money . A change in No. 2 could lead to fixing 1 and 4. Getting to the range is cheap enough. Lessons are not.

5. Back Problems . I have had disc problems on and off for 10 years. I am in the middle of my worst flare up in years. I played 9 each of the last 3 days and it was a killer. On the 1st green yesterday, I went down to mark my ball and almost could not get back up.

[Shindig]

My lack of experience is killing me.

I have spent plenty of time on the range, and when I don't have a horrible lie, I can hit the ball consistently. I don't always hit it straight, especially out of the rough, but I'm not going to hit it 90-degrees offline or topping it.

However, there are a few things that come with experience that are killing me:
* reading greens for breaks -- once I've played a course a few times, I get an idea of how those greens break. I still need to figure out for new courses.
* green speeds -- First few courses I played had very slow greens. Then I played with a friend on a course with fast greens. Yikes!
* Analyzing a hole to determine where to hit my drive. I'm not claiming I can place my drive where I want it to go and I just choose poorly, but it would be nice if I had a better idea of where to aim.
* Estimating distances. Seriously, my most GIRs were when a friend of mine - quite good at estimating distances - chose my clubs for me. It was a casual round at an executive course, so it wasn't as though this counted on the handicap meter. He hadn't seen me swing in 8 months, but after 15 minutes of watching me at the driving range, he was able to tell me which club to hit on each of the par-3s and for approach shots on the 4s. I think I hit 8-10 GIRs, and had near-hits on most of the rest.


I guess time is also an issue, since I could trade time for experience.

[Silvertree]

1. Time
2. Money

[illmadden]

1. Time

Same order for me. When I was a course marshall in my late-teens/early-20's, I played the best rounds of golf. Back then, I was able to play at least 9 a day and didn't have to pay to play. It was the perfect job.

Recently, I fell back in love with golf a few years back and that's only because I can now afford the expenses it cost to be an average golfer. The problem I have now is time. With a wife and kid, they have priority over my fun time

[Ogg]

Putting recently. Driving has been good and iron play has me in great position. Putting has been close but not good enough.