Super hacker to decent golfer..... Who's done it?

[whorippedit]

Was 100 shooting 5 years ago now low 80. Told to film practice swing and make regular swing look like practice swing When they were close I started playing good good golfing . Pro had me try and hit a spot foot behind balls almost feels like hitting fat but worked . All on plane and the goal was plane same back as down Took 4 seasons and works golf is all about same plane bak same plane thru

[late347]

I'm still yet to break 100, but I'm getting closer I feel.

All rounds are at least sub-110. Too much threeputting. lack of confidence at long putting, either in the hole, or at least within second putt distance.

I've been working more at simply hitting GiR - with approach shot. Not always aiming for the flag, sometimes theyre difficult pin locations.

Approach shots are not very consistent, and neither are they accurate

My most accurate club seems to be 24deg callaway hybrid for some strange reason LOL. Most consistency and accuracy within shot cone it seems.

[stiffshaft]

I started playing when I was in high school and playing sparingly through college. I always did terrible, like 120+ terrible. I had my good shots on every hole but also had shots that would ruin a hole. So going in this winter I was determined to get better. I spent at least 3-4 nights a week at the range. Worked all on irons (full shots, half, etc). I watched a lot of videos on the different swings out there and settled on one principle. I think a major part of me not doing well was I was taking a little bit from different instructors on youtube and each one had different swing principles (ie: one plane, two plane, stack and tilt, rotary etc). and that did more harm than good for me. Once the weather got better I worked a lot on my short game at the local par 3 course. This summer, I'm playing at least once a week and average in the mid 90's with a best of 89. I still tee off with a 5 iron, which is my 200 yard club. I recently got fitted for a 3 wood so hopefully the added distance off the tee will drive me into the 80's consistenty. But what i've really noticed is if you damage control and make smart decisions. Breaking 100 is very doable. For me, that was realizing that hitting the fairway with a 5 iron is better than hitting from teh trees with a driver. An older golfer to just treat every hole as a par five and so far its worked.

[BuckeyeNut]

100% of every decent golfers..........started as a hacker.  Just SAYING!!!!

I was married and grown when I took up the game....recorded a 91 for 9.     If I was behind that guy, I'd be pissed.   Luckily I learned fast the virtues of keeping pace.

[Get in the hole]

I joined my golf club as a complete novice having only played a couple of rounds of golf previously. My three handicap cards where all 110 -120. I played there for 5 years making marginal improvements, but then the back end of last year I broke hundred and started playing to my 28 handicap. This year it is starting to click with my and my handicap has started to drop. I'm now scoring low 90's and I hope to break 90 soon, and my target is to get down to a handicap of 20 by the end of the year.

[phan52]

I played as a kid, but quit when I went to college and didn't pick up another club until I was 28 years old. I couldn't hit the ball out of my shadow and had no concept of course management so, after about a year and a half of that, I was a 27 handicap and got no enjoyment from the game.

I talked to a young pro who was a very good player and we talked about commitment. I made it clear that I was more about my job at the time than golf but I wanted to enjoy it more or I would just stick to tennis (I was a decent tennis player). Since I didn't have the time to tear down and re-construct, he decided that I should try to improve from 100 yards in and score better. That first year with him I went from a 26 to a 17, still lacking the ability to hit it out of my shadow, but I was turning the doubles and triples into bogies and began to make a decent amount of pars. I began to enjoy the game and, over the years, I have gotten my handicap consistently down into the 10-12 range by working on my overall game and course management.

[Fromthecoast]

I played as a kid, but quit when I went to college and didn't pick up another club until I was 28 years old. I couldn't hit the ball out of my shadow and had no concept of course management so, after about a year and a half of that, I was a 27 handicap and got no enjoyment from the game.

I talked to a young pro who was a very good player and we talked about commitment. I made it clear that I was more about my job at the time than golf but I wanted to enjoy it more or I would just stick to tennis (I was a decent tennis player). Since I didn't have the time to tear down and re-construct, he decided that I should try to improve from 100 yards in and score better. That first year with him I went from a 26 to a 17, still lacking the ability to hit it out of my shadow, but I was turning the doubles and triples into bogies and began to make a decent amount of pars. I began to enjoy the game and, over the years, I have gotten my handicap consistently down into the 10-12 range by working on my overall game and course management.

That doesn't sound too bad to me. I'm just now dipping my toes into the sub 100 range. I think ideally I want to get myself into the 10-17 handicap range.

[RFKFREAK]

Work has pretty much not allowed me to play as I've only played 5 rounds this year, and before today, the last being three weeks ago. At the end of last season I was scoring between 105-115. Today I shot a 114 today with 1 par, 0 GIR, and 5/13 FIR on a 67.5/120 Par 71 course. I don't think I've had a GIR this season and I think it's getting in my head. It's also starting to bug me that I'm scoring at the top of the range I finished last season at. Oh, and my short game sucks. So much to fix, so little time. *sigh*

[isukgolf]

I started in my late 40's ... Just now feel like I am ready to be a steady break 100 guy ..

[golfclubmogul]

I am 15 years old and I played for my school team around 6 months ago. I shot 121 in my first tournament and 118 in my second. I practice almost 4 times a week and have read many books on golf. I now consistently shoot mid to low 90s every time I play. I am trying to work on the fundamentals of Ben Hogan's swing. It is much more consistent than the modern swing today and recommend a swing change for anyone starting out or just has a bad swing. The only thing I recommend is record  yourself so you can really see what you are doing wrong and practice with a purpose.

[Fromthecoast]

I'm now finding myself playing in a funk right now. Just shortly after posting my best score of 95, I tweaked my back and have been basically unable to hit the ball well at all for the last 3 or 4 range session. It is like I am back at square one. I am not sure if I should lay off a few weeks or get out there and work on the fundamentals. Really very frustrating. Seems like this keeps happening, and I am not sure what I can do about it.

[trey3d]

I started off shooting over 100. With in 2 months I was a consistent 90s golfer. Now I'm shooting mid high 80s with the occasional 90s. After only 10 months of golf it can happen. I'm close to breaking 80s which is my goal when I started for the first year.(10 months total so far) A big goal but it just made me try harder. The 2nd 9 is usually my best by 5 strokes. Playing 9 holes only the last couple days I have shot 41-43. Today I'm playing 18 by myself hopefully I can hit 79-85.

[Fromthecoast]

Just got back from a productive range session. Laid off about 4 days and it seems to have helped. Back did not hurt very much and after a few balls I started working my whole body back into the swing and things were working really well. Distance was coming back strong. I started with a big fade, and that eventually started working to very straight with maybe a minimal fade. I'm still having consistency issues, but I feel much better after today's session than I did going in. Unfortunately I won't get to play much this week, but pretty much plan to be on a boat or on a golf course over the 4th of July holiday.

[Fromthecoast]

Range sessions have been up and down. My swing is definitely off a lot from where it was. I just started experimenting with more of a two plane swing and I am having some success. Even though range sessions have been pretty poor overall, I managed to shoot a 97 today and had many chances to shoot better than that. The last three scores that I have are 95 and 97 on 18 and a 49 on 9. My handicap is now just a hair under 28, so things are going in the right direction and I guess soon I will officially be a sub 100 player (at least according to handicap).

[Fromthecoast]

Well the year has gone by and I haven't improved on my best round of 95 but I did end up breaking 100 more times than I remember this year. My handicap is down to 26.5 and my average score is right at 100. I'm hoping that with some substantial improvement in 2015 to lower my HC to at least under 20. I think if I can do that my average score would be around a 93 or 94 (give or take) and that would be progress. I'd like to start dipping my toes into the upper 80s at least a couple of times this year. We shall see. These days I am mostly struggling with my approach shots and putting. Hitting short iron approach shots fats and wedge shots thin has been the case lately. Way too many putts to score successfully. I easily see 10 stroke lying on the course right now that could be picked up.

[DrvFrShow]

Well in that case I'd work on your wedge and iron game. You're might be scooping the ball or falling back when you're using your wedges and irons. This will lead to fat shots and skulling wedge shots. Without looking, I'd recommend hitting knock-downs with your pitching wedge to a target. Then go to half swings. These will help you get your hands and body in proper position. Mike has some drills for this. Also consider a "My Swing" post.

Practice 3 foot putts until they're automatic. You should be able to make over 90% of them. Practice lag putting - start at 15 feet, then 20 feet, then 30 feet, then 40 feet. The goal on lag putting is to get the ball within the 3 ft radius of the hole so you can tap it in. Use four balls on the practice green. Lag putting is going to be your biggest payoff for putting. Worry about sinking 10 and 15 footers when you get really good. You still want to get these as close as you can.

Also spend time in the bunker. If your driving range has a bunker you should spend some time in it. It takes about 4 hours practice to become a decent bunker player. Grab a shag bag and hit bunker shots for 30 minutes once a week for a few weeks. You'll see a marked improvement in your game and confidence. I'm a good bunker player now.

[tqcishark]

I spent years playing typical hacker double-bogey golf, never honestly breaking 100 on a championship course.  Not once.  To my credit, I never cheated to break 100.  No mulligans, foot wedges, improved lies were used to break that barrier.  Recently I applied myself and practiced a better swing and pretty easily shaved 15 - 20 strokes per round in about a year.  But its been a challenge to improve or even maintain a level of better golf without the same or more commitment to practicing consistently and correctly, including resisting temptations to overswing and take risks.  I did take a couple of lessons, but maybe not the way some golfers do it.  I spent enough time at the range working on proper mechanics and grooving a repeatable stroke to the point where I could hit every club with consistent straightness and distance.  Then and only then did I take a lesson.  In my mind it would be a waste of money getting a pro to fix big flaws and make big changes.  What I wanted from the pro was minor changes to improve what I already accomplished on my own.  I didn't approach it like that.  I asked the pro if I needed to overhaul or just tweek stuff.  He liked my swing.  He just wanted me to change minor things, as I had hoped.  I took some lessons way back and it took me a long time to recover from trying to change everything on his schedule.  The lessons I had more recently, after working some things out on my own, were way more beneficial.  I admit I've struggled to maintain bogey golf consistency.  Wrist surgery, bad weather, too much work and a new set of clubs all introduced set backs.   But I also sort of got tired of just scoring around 90, so I decided to change my short game, to rely on wedges a little more.   For me its worth it to take a step backwards because I know the next corner I have to turn has to do with confidence to take a full swing inside 100

[Fromthecoast]

Knocked down another milestone today. Finally broke 90 which was a big personal goal of mine. I felt like I needed to get there to feel like a real golfer. I didn't expect that today would be the day at the turn because I was +13 on the front nine, but finished the front nine with a couple of pars. Finished up only 2 over on the back which consisted of 3 bogeys, 1 birdie, and the rest were parts. Finished up with an 87. I was thrilled especially since I was even on the back 9 after 6 holes I knew I had a good shot at getting under 90. Hopefully I can continue to confirm those numbers. This week was a week of ups and downs and honestly a week ago I was ready to quit. I was having trouble with my irons and really spent a lot of time this week working on improving my swing and closing the clubface which paid dividends today. I played my stock shot off the tee box, which was my push draw. Had some really nice drives even though I was using a new driver, getting out there to 274 on my longest that I GPS'd today. Today was one of those days that will keep you coming back. The oldest score that I have recorded on oobgolf is the end of march last year which was a 117, to an 87 today only 11 months later. 30 strokes difference even though some days it didn't feel like it. This site has been a great resource and I've found some words of wisdom and inspiration here to keep me going.