Most successful period of development

[T Shark]

Following on from my post about starting golf later in life, when did you feel you made the most progress in your game? What did you do, what did you change, I don't believe completely in 'click' moments because they are usually the result of hard work.

For me there were two. For my full swing it was recording every practice swing on camera so I always knew what I was doing right or wrong. Realising the importance of immediate feedback meant I could learn from every practice shot and know what I did right or wrong. Removing any frustration and letting each me stay productive.

Putting, it was one of the oldest drills in the book, attempt 100 putts in a row from 3 feet, miss one start again from zero, don't leave until you have done it, complete it early then move to 6 feet (something I never was able to reach with 100 with yet). This single drill gave me the confidence to know that if I could get an approach to 6 feet I would have confidence in converting the putt (nothing simulates pressure like knowing if you miss a putt you will need to start from 0 again). Short putts are simple strokes, the best examples of performing under pressure. I credit this drill to an English pro called Carl Rota who after a pro-am spent an hour on the putting green with me, as a 13 year old golfer teaching me the importance of persistence.

[Patch]

I started scoring well after 8 months of learning to play the game backwards. By that I mean learning to putt well, then chip well, then pitch well, then approach well. By the time I got to the tee box I already had my full swing working well for me. I felt that learning all those easier swings first, made the longer swings easier, because they were just shorter versions of those longer swings.

After that, it was just a matter of keeping everything working well/better by practicing, and playing a lot. After a while I added practicing various shots from poor lies to avoid surprises during a real round of golf.

[Dave2512]

Combo of playing a lot, good instruction and the dedication to put in the practice time.

[RFKFREAK]

I'm still waiting to see if this will happen to me but if it does, I'll be sure to let you (and anyone within earshot) know!

[boogielicious]

Following on from my post about starting golf later in life, when did you feel you made the most progress in your game? What did you do, what did you change, I don't believe completely in 'click' moments because they are usually the result of hard work.

For me there were two. For my full swing it was recording every practice swing on camera so I always knew what I was doing right or wrong. Realising the importance of immediate feedback meant I could learn from every practice shot and know what I did right or wrong. Removing any frustration and letting each me stay productive.

Putting, it was one of the oldest drills in the book, attempt 100 putts in a row from 3 feet, miss one start again from zero, don't leave until you have done it, complete it early then move to 6 feet (something I never was able to reach with 100 with yet). This single drill gave me the confidence to know that if I could get an approach to 6 feet I would have confidence in converting the putt (nothing simulates pressure like knowing if you miss a putt you will need to start from 0 again). Short putts are simple strokes, the best examples of performing under pressure. I credit this drill to an English pro called Carl Rota who after a pro-am spent an hour on the putting green with me, as a 13 year old golfer teaching me the importance of persistence.

For me it was after a clinic with Erik an Dave Wedzik in 2010.  They really gave me a sense of what to work on and how to apply it.  My handicap went from ~20 to 14 that year.