Most Miserable Week of Golf EVER

[zmwendland]

I also posted this in Golf Talk, but I figured I may get some better responses here.

So I've been on a vacation with my family to the Hammock Beach Golf Resort in St. Augustine, FL. I have been playing golf for about 2 and a half months, and about a week ago I got my first real set of irons, a 6-PW Cleveland Mashie set with 4 and 5 hybrids. While I am at the range, I usually hit my iron shots DECENTLY, though they are always fat or thing, and my 6 iron always slices about 30 yards off target. I can hit it about 130-150 yds. I played the Ocean course Thursday and Friday, I had a bit of fun, but I shot a 122. I had to take 2-3 shots off the tees for half of the holes, as I kept slicing into oblivion or hitting the ball like 50 yards. On the off occasion that I hit a 220yd drive or a 200 yd hybrid shot, I would immediately chunk the ball about 20 yards with my irons. I had about 5 good iron shots throughout my whole round. My pitches would either fly over the green and into a bunker, or go about 10 yards from the spot I pitched it. My chips are ALWAYS shots that barely even get off the ground, and would roll to the end of the fringe. It was VERY frustrating. Today I played the conservatory course, planning to play all 18 holes in one morning. I was shooting 50 through 7 holes, and I couldn't even get ANY of my iron shots off of the ground. Well, on the eighth hole (a par 3) I hit 2 balls into the water, and gave up. I hit about 10 shots on the final par 4 of the back 9, and I gave up and went home, utterly disappointed and even considering giving up golf.

My swing sequence seems to be pretty decent, but I almost always end up hitting the ground about an inch behind the ball whenever I play on the course. I focus on rolling my left forearm back during the back swing, and rolling my wrists and arm forward during my downswing (if I don't do this, my shots go nowhere). I try to follow through well, but my club digs into the ground and I am unable to follow through. NOTHING irritates me more than when I chunk the ball 10-20 yards. I just drop the club and beat myself up on the inside.

If anyone has any tips to help a beginner golf like myself, I would really appreciate it. I have gotten 4 lessons since I started, and I watch how-to videos on youtube all the time. Any reading or video series that could help my problems with my irons would be a life saver for me.

[turbosdad]

Well, I have taken lessons straight for about a year and half and still do many of the things that you describe.  I score about 107 to 102.  Cannot put any of the parts of the game together.

Ran into a guy today that said, "golf is an easy game if you just learn the technique"  Please somebody teach me this technique of which the man speaks of.................

[CraiginKSA]

OK, first and foremost - DO NOT GET DISCOURAGED!!  This game is hard.  There are very few people (Sam Snead comes to mind) who are good right from the first time they pick up a club.  Hitting good shots is a function of precise timing that has to be learned through repitition.  I've been hacking steadily for about a year and a half (after a 20 year layoff) and my handicap has gone from 26 to about 17.  And I play a lot (nothing else to do here in Saudi!!).  There are so many things you can do to improve your game.  And if you read through all the threads on this board, you can see that every single person on here has some problem that they're trying to work through.

So just relax, take it one shot at a time, one hole at a time, one round at a time.  Typically, there is one or two shots per round that make you think, "hey, maybe I can play this game."  You need to focus on those wins and try and duplicate.  This game bites everyone of every skill level.  Look at David Duval and Ian Baker Finch.  Duval was number one in the world and now can't make a cut.  Finch can't break 80 after winning the Open so now he talks about golf on TV!

Keep working on your swing, Enjoy the sun, grass and trees, and try and remember that putt, chip or drive that DID work out.  Also, a fun thing to do is try and find a scramble to play in.  You'll be teamed up with an A, B, and C player and you wont have to play your own ball every hole.  You get to see some really good shots from the better players, and if you contribute a drive or putt every couple of holes, you get to be part of a nice score.

[GlasgowsGreen]

To begin with you have to understand that your round was perfectly normal for someone who has only been playing golf for 2 and a half months!

My advice would be to keep going with the lessons but to focus on the fundamentals for now e.g. setup, grip etc.

If you want to improve you'll have to get used to rounds like the one you described above. Golf is a very tough game and often you actually have to get worse before you can get better!

Try to spend as much time as you can at the range working on improving your swing.

Most importantly - try to enjoy being out on the course even if you're shooting a high score. It's meant to be fun after all!

I'd also try and play to within your limits when you are on the course. If you can't hit the ball straightish with your driver at the range don't try and use it on the course when the fairway is lined with trees and water!

[Pablo68]

Originally Posted by GlasgowsGreen

To begin with you have to understand that your round was perfectly normal for someone who has only been playing golf for 2 and a half months!

My advice would be to keep going with the lessons but to focus on the fundamentals for now e.g. setup, grip etc.

Try to spend as much time as you can at the range working on improving your swing.

Most importantly - try to enjoy being out on the course even if you're shooting a high score. It's meant to be fun after all!

I'd also try and play to within your limits when you are on the course. If you can't hit the ball straightish with your driver at the range don't try and use it on the course when the fairway is lined with trees and water!

zmwendland , this is very sound advice.

Golf is a game of angles much like shooting pool; the shot you're hitting now sets up your next shot.

A lot of playing golf is managing your way around the golf course based on what your tendancies are versus what hazards you're trying to navigate around. Too many people fire every shot as if they're going to hit it perfectly without leaving a margin for error. An example would be shooting at a flag cut on the right side of the green with a bunker or water on the right side. If you hit it further right than you allow for, the chances for recovery are slim to none.

Look at the time you put on the range as an investment. The more time you spend practicing, the easier time you'll have on the golf course. Aim EVERY shot on the range as if you were on the course and set up the same way EVERY time. This will give you a solid preshot routine to fall back on when things start going wrong on the course.

[Stevep21]

Keep getting lessons and don't expect to get better every day, golf takes a lot of time, for a few months I was shooting regularly in the 70's and had my best round ever of 71 on a par 70 course a few weeks ago but on the range I just didn't know how I could improve I was still making the same mistakes so I've gone for a couple of lessons and I haven't broken 80 since! even though I am hitting it sweet as a nut when I feel like I'm getting my new swing right, problem is I have new distances so I am misclubbing, my short game is suffering because I am putting more time in on my swing and less on short game! I am sure you have probably heard the expression "one step back two step forward" applied to golf and it is very true, give the game time and the improvement will follow! And to reiterate with the other posts, don't get discouraged, looking at my scores people would say it was stupid to get a lesson and change my swing, but I felt like I had reached my swings limit so to speak, I couldn't shoot any lower! So carry on with your lessons, put the practice in and the scores will drop eventually :)

[inthecup]

Originally Posted by Stevep21

Keep getting lessons and don't expect to get better every day, golf takes a lot of time, for a few months I was shooting regularly in the 70's and had my best round ever of 71 on a par 70 course a few weeks ago but on the range I just didn't know how I could improve I was still making the same mistakes so I've gone for a couple of lessons and I haven't broken 80 since! even though I am hitting it sweet as a nut when I feel like I'm getting my new swing right, problem is I have new distances so I am misclubbing, my short game is suffering because I am putting more time in on my swing and less on short game! I am sure you have probably heard the expression "one step back two step forward" applied to golf and it is very true, give the game time and the improvement will follow! And to reiterate with the other posts, don't get discouraged, looking at my scores people would say it was stupid to get a lesson and change my swing, but I felt like I had reached my swings limit so to speak, I couldn't shoot any lower! So carry on with your lessons, put the practice in and the scores will drop eventually :)

I agree with Steve.  You might want to stay away from very difficult courses for a while also.

Keep with the lessons and swing easy, think 80% or power.  Tension is bad in a golf swing.

[zmwendland]

Thank you all for the encouragement! My home course that I play on is VERY easy. After about 5 or so drives on the range I can hit them straight and about 220, but when I get on the course I slice it or pop it up :/ I have had some rounds where I hit it straight every time, and it feels good!! I just wish I could duplicate those results. I recently had a round of 9 where I got 4 pars believe it or not, so I felt like I was getting a lot better, but then this happened! I'm just gonna keep pressing on haha