What to do when lessons aren't enough.....?

[powerfade]

I HAVE hit excellent shots before. Effortless-feeling, high, straight balls that that hit the green and stop dead leaving nothing but island-sized flying divots in their wake. I just don't remember how long enough to get to the range and hit 5 buckets with the same swing to remember. I have (at least I think I have) all of the grip, alignment, posture, etc... fundamentals down

Unless you have unlimited funds and can afford several lecture sessions with your golf pro, other than listening to a bunch of people on a golf forum

, I would say it's time to pickup a book. I can only recommend David Leadbetter (fire suit on). I am self taught up to this point. I've read just about all his books. Other than Tiger's book, I do not read anyone else on the full swing. He does have a good way of communicating. I also notice a similarity in all his books that probably span more than 15 years. For a long time I felt his new books just repeated his previous books. For me, that was good. I didn't need to relearn the swing everytime he decided to publish a new book. If anything, I feel I understand the golf swing. I may not be able to perform it correctly all the time (tee game wildness on target-golf courses prevents me from shooting consistently in the 70's) but I do understand. Pickup The Golf Swing by Leadbetter. That's one of his first, if not the first (1990). Don't be afraid...it's the modern swing. He breaks it down into steps so you can understand the swing. You're a mechanical player - he's a mechanical teacher. What could be better, than Lead...(I won't say it ). If that book is too mechanical then get one of his latest...100% Golf. That one covers the entire game. I'd still recommend The Golf Swing first because you're struggling with, and need to understand, the full swing. If you like that one then get Faults and Fixes. It's 2 pages per fault. You can zero in on what's troubling you. I wouldn't recommend getting this book until you've read the The Golf Swing a few times. I also wouldn't recommend reading from different authors at this point, then try to piece them all together. I'll stick by my guns and say your issues are probably more mental at this point (the other 90% of the game). To help with that, gain the understanding of the swing from the book. Gain the muscle memory then let your mind do its job. Ultimately, when you're over the ball, you should only have one or two swing thoughts in your head along with the image of the shot flying where you want it to go. Do all that other thinking before you get over the ball. Anything more than a couple thoughts and you're thinking mechanics instead of playing golf.

[Warik]

He breaks it down into steps so you can understand the swing. You're a mechanical player - he's a mechanical teacher.

This could be my problem. I remember plenty of times asking my instructor about hand position, tension level, when do I do X, how should Y feel, etc... and got a lot of "don't worry about that yet" answers. I guess I am a pretty "mechanical student" - the only way I can stop worrying about something is if I know what it's supposed to be doing. Heck, the only things I DON'T ever worry about in my golf swing are grip and aim because they are the only two things I truly feel I understand.

Ultimately, when you're over the ball, you should only have one or two swing thoughts in your head along with the image of the shot flying where you want it to go. Do all that other thinking before you get over the ball. Anything more than a couple thoughts and you're thinking mechanics instead of playing golf.

Yeah, you have a point for sure.

Thanks everyone for your time and answers. I don't think I'll give up on this game quite yet. :)

[Ghetto P]

Harvey Penick's Little Red Book.

[ClintonM3]

Do you have any consistent swing flaws?

When I first started, my balls fly everywhere, fade, draw, push, pull, thin, fat, skull, shank and everything in between.

I work on one swing thought at a time, and narrow my flaws. After much practice, now, if I hit a bad shot, my tendencies are mostly pulls, and thin shots. When I pull, I check my swing path, when I hit thin, I check my spine tilt or ball position. That's only a couple of fundamentals I need to work on. I don't have to go through a million different fundamentals in order to figure out what went wrong.

Is almost better to hit bad consistently knowing why, than hitting good consistently but don't know why.

[TourSpoon]

Two keys to improving:

This is the exactly correct. You can only hope to work or fix one or two things at a time. Anyone who gives you more is going to overload you with too much information. Once you are comfortable with the one or two things, go back and get some more. Good luck.