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Are you a Better Golfer than a Year Ago?


Improvement in Your Golf Game  

610 members have voted

  1. 1. Are you a better golfer than you were one year ago? Are your scores and/or handicap index lower?

  2. 2. One year from now, do you think you will be a better golfer (lower scores and/or handicap index) than you are now?



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  • Moderator
7 hours ago, SmiterofPV1x said:

I'm not. I'm not sure what's going on. I play/practice WAY more than I ever have in the past. I'm not sure why it's a no, I've racked my brain trying to find out what makes me tick, but I'm just not sure. For whatever reason (fate??) I just don't play as good when I stay fresh and practiced then I do when I haven't touched a club in a long while. Maybe it's due to my thought process going from "dear lord please let me make solid contact" when I haven't played in a while to "ok, I'm going to hit a low draw, start it mid right and draw around that small tree". I shot my best 18 ever on a round where I hadn't touched a club in 6+ months and had only played 3 rounds or so a year for 8 years. 

It didn't hurt that I holed out for birdie on the first hole, and made a HIO on a short (267 yard) par 4, then almost holed out on a 170 par 3, but still I hit more memorable shots on that round than I've hit in the 4 years since combined. Including a chip in for birdie on the par 3 18th, needing to make par to stay under par. 

I used to compete in amateur LD comps, SS was low 140's back then. Never could figure out the spin game so I wasn't the best at them. Now my swing is slower and my spin is even more. Not sure how but it sure has an impact. This is despite my best efforts to reign it in. Proper shafts, etc. I top out in the upper 120's or so nowadays and struggle to spin it less than 3k with the most spin killing setups known to man. Typical good strikes are 3200 RPM's. Bad strikes might make it 4-5k. Give me a downwind hole though.... 🙂

I'll figure this out at some point. I already know how to hit knuckle balls that fall out of the sky at 1500 RPM's, I just need to swing my setup at 105-110. What happens from 105-125, that's my mystery. I can play at that 105 speed, I'd just get a little more bendy shaft and be good to go. I can't leave 20MPH on the table. Those days are a forced coming soon so I refuse to do it prior to then. I will play that way into the wind now just because I can hit the same distance with either swing. Nuetral  or positive though I just can't sell myself on it. 

This isn't a call to arms of reasons why it spins that way. I have the proper AOA, and all other stats seem to be optimum. No one can figure it out, that's my problem. 

Have you considered starting a My Swing thread? There are folks here that can help. 

Scott

Titleist, Edel, Scotty Cameron Putter, Snell - AimPoint - Evolvr - MirrorVision

My Swing Thread

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13 hours ago, boogielicious said:

Have you considered starting a My Swing thread? There are folks here that can help. 

I'm pretty naive at this entire tech thing. Do I need to link a YouTube video or can I upload a video directly from my phone? I don't do YouTube but could put a swing up if I can just directly post it. If I can't directly post it and anyone truly wants to see my John Daly full turn swing and post it via appropriate means, let me know. It's pretty peculiar but I'm also 39, fat, and can still hit 130 SS with Driver if I really try, lol. The only swing I have captured is in my basement with a GW. I "thought" I could swing freely with a GW down there but was wrong and hit the ceiling on my follow through. That swing prior to hitting the ceiling is my normal swing though. I can get a full driver swing video in the morning if there's someone that wants to see it/can post it. 

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10 hours ago, SmiterofPV1x said:

I'm pretty naive at this entire tech thing. Do I need to link a YouTube video or can I upload a video directly from my phone? I don't do YouTube but could put a swing up if I can just directly post it. If I can't directly post it and anyone truly wants to see my John Daly full turn swing and post it via appropriate means, let me know. It's pretty peculiar but I'm also 39, fat, and can still hit 130 SS with Driver if I really try, lol. The only swing I have captured is in my basement with a GW. I "thought" I could swing freely with a GW down there but was wrong and hit the ceiling on my follow through. That swing prior to hitting the ceiling is my normal swing though. I can get a full driver swing video in the morning if there's someone that wants to see it/can post it. 

If you have a smartphone, it is pretty easy. You can get the Youtube app for free. After you film, from the video, you send it to the app. The app will ask questions about the privacy of the video. I usually post mine as unlisted. After the video loads in YouTube, you copy the URL address and just post the link in your thread. The video will then imbed automatically.

We all felt a bit uncomfortable about posting our swings at first. But the drive to get better at golf should outweigh the reluctance. 

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Scott

Titleist, Edel, Scotty Cameron Putter, Snell - AimPoint - Evolvr - MirrorVision

My Swing Thread

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  • Administrator
15 hours ago, boogielicious said:

If you have a smartphone, it is pretty easy. You can get the Youtube app for free. After you film, from the video, you send it to the app. The app will ask questions about the privacy of the video. I usually post mine as unlisted. After the video loads in YouTube, you copy the URL address and just post the link in your thread. The video will then imbed automatically.

We all felt a bit uncomfortable about posting our swings at first. But the drive to get better at golf should outweigh the reluctance. 

Or he can post it to Vimeo.

Back to the topic, anyway. BTW, yes, I'm better this year than last.

Erik J. Barzeski —  I knock a ball. It goes in a gopher hole. 🏌🏼‍♂️
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Significantly better , evidenced by both scores and play, but only better inside about 160 yards (a 5 iron for me). 

Virtually all the improvement has come in short game & approach though, with little improvement in my long game. I've got to find a way to improve at least some elements of this to improve any further this year.  

 

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Dropped a few strokes, and the better rounds are easier to come by.

Not yet where I want to be in terms of scoring, but golf has already given me quite a bit.        

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I think it depends upon how much one gets a chance to play.  I don't know of anything that requires technique where folks get better with intermittent layoffs like the golf season.  There's a lot of downtime.  Now if folks have a great off-season regimen that's different..

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Last year a 9.2.  Now a 5.8.  More time to practice, more time to practice like I really mean it.  Much more time spent on the chipping and putting greens.  The goal is to be a 4 by the end of the year. 

Importantly, remember that it is a game.  Enjoy each day on the golf course.  They are finite in number..smell the roses.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Yes in a lot of ways but still no where it really counts - my scores.  I'm one of those hit a wall players as well.  Mid to low 90's but just cannot get down into the 80's.  Been stuck here for years.

I don't get to play very much and I'm sure that's a big reason but I usually do get out for 9 holes a week, sometimes 2 nine hole rounds and a full 18 every once in a while.  I do practice A LOT.  Practice based off of lessons and self-diagnosing.  I have a net and a good mat to hit balls into.  Head to the range a decent amount.

The good - I am more consistent the last two season than I've ever been.  My ball striking is worlds better than an average 90's shooter.  Hitting a lot more GIR.  Driver goes from time to time but I have a good enough game to pretty much bogey most holes when I hit a wayward drive.  Sand game is much better.  I have all the shots, I just can't seem to close holes out.  I stand over a lot of uncomfortable par putts.  Guess you can say my lag putting stinks.  Too many 5 and six footers for par which turns into a bogey.  I did get a pretty large putting mat for my patio and am committed to practicing my putting more this season.  Putting and plugging some holes in my driving really should lower my scores significantly.

Typical round for me is mostly bogeys, a few pars, and maybe one or two blow up holes with a 7 or 8.  90's every time...

I will say I'm brutally honest counting every stroke and only giving myself definite gimme putts.  I play with friends who somehow seem to tie or beat me when they re-tee their drives on a few holes and use their foot wedge to get the lie they want.

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  • 5 weeks later...

Better today?  Almost by default!  I am coming off a 2 decades lay off from a number of reasons, including heart surgery and major foot injury. My first month or so on the range was poor to horrible. Each month, I simply took time to work on the basics.  First play on a court was as I expected, some terrible shorts but not too bad over all.  So next year, I expect to improve my handicap as well as be more consistent with wedge shots and keep working on a fade that seems to have come out of nowhere (too much time off caused a bad habit to leave?). Patience and just relaxing on my grip and not over compensating for my age with trying to muscle shots has done a lot.  Most of the credit goes to a golf pro I Work with and encouragement from my son!

 

Edited by DrMJG

In My BELDIN Green Bay Packer 1999 SUPER BOWL CHAMPION bag :  :ping: G410 Plus Alta Red CB 55 sr,  GX-7  (acting as a 3 wood)  :ping: 4H, 5H. Sr Flex   :ping:  G400 6i Sr Flex, G-Max 7i. 9i Sr Flex , Glide 2.0  Wedges (50º, 56º, 60º)  :touredge:  Chipper  :ping: Putter: Cadence Mid-TR 350g:bridgestone:  e12 for the items I try to hit on purpose.  :footjoy: on my feet and hands, US Embassy-Singapore hat on my head (with PACKERS, Brewers or UW-Badgers hats as options).

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  • 2 weeks later...

It was about a year ago that I started my swing thread (which I have not updated in a while).  I feel that I am much better than a year ago, but my handicap has not really moved.  I am presently at a 21.5 so I missed my goal of getting it down to an 18 over the course of the past year.

 

Still grinding away at it though.

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I am about the same if not slightly worse than a year ago. I finally started to take some golf lessons a few months ago. While quite a few aspects of my swing have changed for the better, I'm still adjusting and grooving the changes. This can be problematic when on the golf course when applying major changes to my swing. But I expect my scores to drop somewhat significantly in a year from now so long as I continue with my lessons and stay on top of my drills and practice.

-Jimmy

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"That tiger ain't go crazy; that tiger went tiger!" - Chris Rock

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Nope, took a serious step backward over the last 2 years because I haven't worked on anything and have golfed less each year. I don't even know what my index would be if I were to start from scratch. I haven't had a round that I can post since last year either. So I'm basically stuck with what it was previously, even though it's not indicative of my current level.

KICK THE FLIP!!

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  • 1 month later...

I think so. I've been playing for 50+ years and up until the Spring of '17 my hdcp was 9 . Then all hell broke loose with my body. I started having neck and head pain from a deteriorating disk AND I tore my right rotator cuff.  I struggled for the rest of the year into 2018 and my hdcp soared to 14 . Finally I got some relief from the pain through PT and NSAIDs, found a swing I can repeat, and I'm back on track. I'm now at 12 and hoping to get down to 10 before Winter.

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Absolutely better than a year ago.  At this time last year my handicap was 34.  Tomorrows revision will be 20.2.  It has taken a tremendous effort (and $$$) to achieve this.  Will I be better next year?  I have every reason to believe so, but I expect the improvements to be much smaller.  It is much easier to drop 14 strokes from a 34 than it will be to drop 14 from a 20! 

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I voted about the same, but I feel like I'm improved. Although my handicap is only a bit lower, I definitely feel like a better golfer. Late last year I had a shoulder injury, and started playing too soon. My handicap went way up over a 2 month period. (from 13 to over 18). I thought the pain and restrictions from the shoulder would be chronic, and this would be how I played going forward. A series of saline injections and therapy restored synovial fluid and mobility, but I had picked up a lot of bad habits. I worked harder at the game then I ever did before, and am now back to where I was. My game is way more consistent though, and I have a better idea of what and how to practice. I'm playing one tee back from last year, and my progress has been steady, so I see no reason why I won't be a better golfer next year.

PING G400 Max 9*  Taylormade  M2 15*  Callaway Steelhead XR 19* & 22*   Callaway Apex CF-16 5-GW  Callaway MD3 54* & 58*  RIFE 2 Bar Hybrid Mallet 34"

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I am a better golfer than I was a month ago.  I am very heads down and working on improvement this year.

Prior, I played maybe once a year.  This year I play 2-5 rounds a week and practice just about daily, along with regular lessons.

Always remember, the same country that invented golf and called it a game, invented bag pipes and called it music.

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