are you getting better?

[Spyder]

Originally Posted by AntiTankNinja

I think you misunderstood. When you are by yourself, go for the harder shots. It's a form of practice. If you practice the hard shots, the easy shots, get easier.

I just played in a 2 man scramble tourney with a guy and we shot a 63, he laid up....and I went for it. I never would have hit any great shots if I wouldn't have ever practiced hard shots.

What happens if you shank a lay up shot? You are forced to make something happen to save par.

Skip to 1:33 for the part I am referencing here:

In theory, practicing the harder shots in golf is not necessarily going to make the less difficult shots in golf easier. This methodology would simply result in the harder shots becoming less difficult for you to pull them off. For example, does an NBA player working on 3-pointers contribute to making his free throws easier?

I personally practice more risky shots as well when I play solo or a round where score means nothing and doesn't go towards my HC, but I definitely do not do so with the idea that it is making less difficult shots even less difficult.

EDIT: I know that nobody here is on level with Phil, but the point goes to show that sometimes the creativity that more difficult shots inspire within our own minds, the more we are able to visualize a shot and produce a favorable result. Sometimes, players forget or take for granted the practice from favorable positions to begin with - such as from the center of the fairway within 80 yards. This lack of practice will obviously result in a weaker point in your game.

[ZachIsLegend]

Originally Posted by AntiTankNinja

I think you misunderstood. When you are by yourself, go for the harder shots. It's a form of practice. If you practice the hard shots, the easy shots, get easier.

I just played in a 2 man scramble tourney with a guy and we shot a 63, he laid up....and I went for it. I never would have hit any great shots if I wouldn't have ever practiced hard shots.

What happens if you shank a lay up shot? You are forced to make something happen to save par.

I don't think i have ever shanked a lay up shot.. and if i thought i might then i would never lay up..  If someone has this issue they may want to practice a heck of a lot more!

[Ernest Jones]

I don't think i have ever shanked a lay up shot.. and if i thought i might then i would never lay up..  If someone has this issue they may want to practice a heck of a lot more!

Nope. I reserve my shanks for 40 yards and in. :-(

[Spyder]

Originally Posted by Ernest Jones

Nope. I reserve my shanks for 40 yards and in.

I almost agreed with him on the "non-shanking" gig, but then my honesty kicked in and said "Man... the catfish at your home course have so much evidence against you!".

[AntiTankNinja]

It's 90% mental, the other half is actually doing it. Confidence is key. I agree completely with course management. But when you pull off a high fade with a long iron, around a tree and over water onto the green to tap in for birdie....you just mentally won that round! The rest of the 18, you are confident about every swing!

[noSnowman]

Pretty sure, based on your thread title, that you were asking us for our stories.  If that's the case, I'll add mine.  Short answer:  yes.  I am getting better. I started taking lessons last summer (with the Evolvr guys) and at the time my handicap was 10.1.  It was also at 9.9 as recently as the January 15 revision.  I felt like I was getting better, but the scores weren't quite showing it.  However, at the next revision, my handicap is going to be 8.0, so the good scores are finally starting to come in. I play approximately once every 2 weeks or so, and I try and practice at least twice a week (for about 45 minutes). Playing decent golf, and more specifically, getting better, is a lot of fun!

Thats great scoring for low play. Most good players i know play min twice per week and hit balls twice per week. I should be lower but my driver wants to go left. I need to get more consistent. Don't wanna spend $$$ on range balls If my driver was on I could be a 5 no prob lem o

[tomvk77]

Originally Posted by AntiTankNinja

It's 90% mental, the other half is actually doing it. Confidence is key. I agree completely with course management. But when you pull off a high fade with a long iron, around a tree and over water onto the green to tap in for birdie....you just mentally won that round! The rest of the 18, you are confident about every swing!

Yeah if you hit the tree or the water, loose your ball, you make double or triple bogey and the rest of 18 is gone.

layup and save par with a good pitch gets the same feeling i think

[tomvk77]

Originally Posted by noSnowman

Thats great scoring for low play. Most good players i know play min twice per week and hit balls twice per week. I should be lower but my driver wants to go left. I need to get more consistent. Don't wanna spend $$$ on range balls If my driver was on I could be a 5 no prob lem o

than don't hit driver and take 3wood instead

[David in FL]

Originally Posted by noSnowman

Thats great scoring for low play. Most good players i know play min twice per week and hit balls twice per week. I should be lower but my driver wants to go left. I need to get more consistent. Don't wanna spend $$$ on range balls If my driver was on I could be a 5 no prob lem o

The only way to get "more consistent" is to spend time practicing whatever it is that you struggle with.  It won't get better just because you want it to.......

......no telling how good I'd be if that were the case!

[dfreuter415]

Originally Posted by chico713

49 yrs old. Same handicap. Same scores. Lessons. New equipment. Play 3 times per week. Still shoot 85 almost every time. Am I alone here??

Back to the original question...  "Am I alone?"  The answer, "No, there are many of us out here."

I have been an 8-9 handicap for the past 20 years, shooting regularly between 78-84 ninety percent of the time. When I retired at age 62, I thought I would make a concerted effort to lower my handicap, but, alas, I didn't take into consideration the "age factor", and have lost 30 yards off the tee and am 10 yards shorter with each iron.

I have concentrated on my short game to keep my game respectable, and I have moved up to the senior tees about 50% of the time.

I enjoy golfing and refuse to let a number get in the way. Just remember, "It's the journey, not the destination that counts."

[Bananarama]

I feel like I am getting better, I feel like my shots are going straighter and more consistant.  However, my current scores are telling a different story

[MPtheKid]

I'm currently trying really hard to get my handicap into the single digits. I feel like I am improving, but my scores just aren't dropping yet. Like Dr. Bob says, you have to commit to the process. Keep putting in the work, giving yourself opportunities, and things will come together. At least that's the frame of mind I am trying to maintain right now.

[MS256]

My "average" scores are slightly better than they were 7 years ago (about two years after I started playing golf). I probably could have made more improvements but I never really tried to learn a "golf swing" and always just played with what came naturally. NOT a good approach or one I would recommend for somebody taking up the game.

My scores on my best days are not as good as my best days from 7 years ago but my scores on my worst days are MUCH better than my worst days 7 years ago. Back then I made a lot of eagles and birdies and a lot of double and triple bogies whereas now I make mostly pars, very few bogies, very few birdies, and only a handful of eagles a year (although I do have 5 so far this year, but two were just lucky hole-outs).

I'm a much better putter than I was back then but have backed off of hitting a driver on almost every hole and going for every par 5 in two. I now expect to play a respectable round of golf without knocking the ball all over the course, shoot in the mid seventies, and very seldom finish better than third or fourth in our little money games but seldom worse than that either.

Seven years ago I expected to hit the ball all over the place, have days shooting in the nineties, have days shooting in the sixties when the stars aligned right, win the money game occasionally, and finish in an embarrassing last place the rest of the time. (Dr. Jekyll and Mister Hyde).

About the only constant is shots around the greens from 40  yards and in. I was good at them then and I'm still good at them now. That and putting are the only thing that hold my game together when I'm not hitting the ball very well.

[NotPortlyNJ]

Yes, I am, and I have focused practice to thank.

Picked the game up last year, took a few lessons, made good progress, broke my foot, and most of that was lost, until this year. Now, it seems that "poppa needs a brand new everything" comes to mind in that I need to work on everything.

Started in April getting to the range, and chipping balls in my back yard.

Played a round at a local par 29 executive course -- 2 par 4's,  the rest 160 and less par 3's.

My first round I discovered that my iron striking was HORRIBLE, putting up a 58.  So a few hundred balls at the range, and 2 weeks later I had dropped 16 strokes, and I feel I'm getting a good handle on chipping. Now, since my irons are OK (could still use some fine tuning), but my last round after making par on the 1st hole (par 3), I discovered that I had too many GIR - 3 putt holes, so it's off to the putting green now to work on lag putting, in addition to getting my hit-or-miss driver working for the par 4's.

Focused practice for me for now.

[noSnowman]

The only way to get "more consistent" is to spend time practicing whatever it is that you struggle with.  It won't get better just because you want it to....... ......no telling how good I'd be if that were the case!   ;-)

I hit some occasionally, just maybe 2 baskets or 70 balls per basket every other Week. I have been playing a lot. Before I went out I hit some old chipper balls with my driver. Straight and 240 on the fly to the fence so at least 270 I shot 5 over a 4 over front that could have easily been even or better. Wrong club selections and a couple bad breaks. Had the back 9 at -1 till 17 a par 5 finished bogey..bogey on 18. I practice chipping n putting 3 to 5 times per week...right now driver is the only club that I am confident on the range / on the course I have good thoughts etc..its always wants to go left...some call it a Billy Casper draw. My bag lacks a good 3 wood its an old Taylor made tour spoon. The head on it looks like a thimble.I rarely bring it out the bag...I hit my long irons good. I even used to carry a 1 iron. My bag needs a gap wedge and a newer 3 wood

[Meltdwhiskey]

I have gotten better, but gradually - and it goes up and down. I fight an over the top thing that apparently has a few different causes.  I beat one cause and hit it great for a week or two with that thought in mind - but then one of the other causes creeps back in.  Beat it and then another creeps in.  Pretty soon it is full circle.

[Stretch]

Originally Posted by Bananarama

I feel like I am getting better, I feel like my shots are going straighter and more consistant.  However, my current scores are telling a different story

I promise you that is common at every level of the game. Hitting the ball better and scoring better are two different things. But you do have to go through the former to eventually get to the latter.

[inthehole]

Looking at my avg scores vs last year, there's improvement, but no where near where I hoped I'd be after 2.5 years of playing serious golf.     I'm getting smarter on how to approach holes which is helping & my chipping is much better due to work I've put in on it.   Putter still stinks up the place.       3 iron off the tee is saving me alot of strokes.    Sick of fighting a hook with all the long clubs though - seen all the video's on how to fix it, just can't consistently do what needs to be done to straighten out the ball flight.  If it were easy, I guess everybody would be scratch ... I look at it as a work in progress & personal challenge.