Are you a Better Golfer than a Year Ago?

[Frenchysenior]

I m striking my irons much better

still having pblemz on getting the driver right ( transition and downswing slice )and not much distance any help is wellcome!)and short game ok

just some more patience to lower my score( 30)

[snapfade]

yes

[The Flush]

I feel like I am striking the ball a lot better. I am hitting driver further and straighter and taking sometimes 2 less club into the same holes.  But I am not scoring a lot better. Scoring is the ultimate indicator of better.  In my case I would either have a blow up hole that ruined the round or poor short game or putting.  However, I did just have my best 9 hole league round last night, a 3 over par 39. Previous best on this course was a 41. Hopefully this is the start of a trend.

[StuM]

I had to vote "No" that I am not better than last year but "Yes" that I do think I'll be better next year.  This year has had a couple nice 9s, but overall I've just not been scoring. 

[Jrwatkins7]

I normally peak towards the end of the summer every year.  Not this year... I am completely lost out there and have lost all confidence. Had my index down to 1.1 last September and now its back up to almost 6 and I cant break 80 to save my life.  Sad to think that I have one more golf getaway in three weeks and I'm not even really looking forward to it.

[mcanadiens]

Probably, but I'm not honestly sure. 

I've tried to purge last year from my mind as much as humanly possible. 

 

[NeilV]

Interesting question. I had a bit of time on a flight recently so decided to look at my scores statistically. I believed I had improved, but it seems that the answer is no. I plugged all of the scores from 68 rounds since November 2021 at the same course into some statistical software, built a control chart, and did some multivariate analysis against the stats that I've been keeping. Short answer is that there is no statistical evidence that I have improved since the end of 2021, and that there is no statistically significant correlation between gross score and FH, GIR, putts/round, no of penalty shots and no. of chips (although this was just for fun, as I doubt that I have the correct measures in place to find a good correlation).

 

From this I get:

The process is stable and predictable. I discounted the high result as probably the 1:200 or so that is outside +/-3 sigma, and the medium shift improvement in August last year which I suspect is special cause variation related to bone hard fairways and bonus driver distance.
The process centre is undesirable high,
The variation is undesirable high.
There is a medium shift for the better in August last year in August last year. Special cause variation related to bone hard fairways I suspect.
Anything between 85 and 112 is completely to be expected.

All in all, a fairly depressing picture that says I have a ridiculously inconsistent swing and my practice is ineffective. I had a bunch of lessons in 2019-20 and know I improved then as I dropped from literally every score being over 100 to what you see here. I've recently started another course of lessons so I need a run of scores (4 from 5) of 94 or better to show a small improvement and a run under 90 (2 from 3) to show a medium improvement. If anyone is remotely interested, I'll post the graph again at the end of the 6 lessons.

Anyways, it killed a few hours on a plane.

 

[woodzie264]

No - there was a time when I was practicing regularly, but outside of the few rounds I’ve played this year, I think I’ve hit balls maybe 3 times. 😏 I need to get back into things. This is my way of putting it out there for accountability 🙄

[ChetlovesMer]

I love this question. 
Why because, like a politician, I can use, find, or create data that will support which ever side of the argument I would like to defend. 

First of all, I "feel" like I improved in 2023. Having said that, my handicap is higher now than it was at this time last year. But that doesn't tell the whole story. If I look at Shotscope, I'm about 3 shots better in 2023 than I was in 2022 on any given course that I play. So, did I improve or not improve?

Here are some reasons I feel like I've improved. 

• My handicap in 2023 has a lot more tournament rounds in it than 2022. 
• I got about 3 shots better on each of the two courses that I played multiple times in 2022 and 2023. 
• My 2022 handicap was nearly all rounds at one course (my home course.) In 2023, more rounds are either tournament rounds or rounds away from my home course. I took the time to play a lot of different courses in 2023. 
• Many if not most of my "good" rounds in 2023 were ineligible to enter into my handicap. 

So, my handicap tells a story, but not the whole story. I haven't yet taken a deep dive into my 2022 and 2023 Shotscope stats. However, there's a lot there to say that I was definitely better in 2023 than I was in 2022. 

So, If I just go by handicap, I got worse in 2023 than I was in 2022. 

 

 

[Sammydreep]

Yes, slightly.

Hitting driver and three wood much better, generally straight or a slight draw, Especially since I upgraded from ping G 410 to G 430.

Both clubs have 2degrees more loft. That together with a slight swing  change, improved technology ,definitely getting more distance. 
On the downside not hitting my ions as well as normal, pitching definitely improving, especially for someone who got to a four handicap 30 years ago and couldn’t pitch .

Chipping a bit up and down, pardon the pun, that was definitely one of the reasons I got to that  handicap when I played many moons  ago, ( I stopped playing for 20 years), better short putter than I was before

Had quite a few opportunities to shoot my age, 73, mostly didn’t chip as well as I could when I had the chance. 

[trombettista_vecchio]

No.
But if I can still play next year, I'll almost certainly be even worse.

That's the reality of not being young.🙁
 

[4zim]

Yes absolutely. Lessons work. Would recommend evolvr for anyone willing to put in the practice time. 

[GolfLug]

On 12/21/2023 at 9:19 AM, ChetlovesMer said:

I love this question. 
Why because, like a politician, I can use, find, or create data that will support which ever side of the argument I would like to defend.

And yet, unlike a politician the only one we con are ourselves.😄 

Having said that, the stories we tell ourselves are also the most potent, good or bad. So,  for me the answer is always a resounding "Yes!".

[retoid]

Considering I only played a single round of 9 holes last year and only a handful of rounds of 9 holes in the 6 years before that. Now playing 18 hole on average ever 2 weeks this season. Definitely improved. Not by a drastic amount, but definitely improving. Hitting more pars and bogeys. Driving straighter etc. Practice helps! :D

[mdl]

I took a big step back last season in terms of scoring. I felt I'd plateaued and committed to another round of lessons and working on meaningful swing changes. Went from a 7.9 to an 11. Back down in the 10s. Just starting to see some of the feel of improvement show up in scores. In fact a few rounds ago I had my best round, both score wise and ball striking and putting, in a while! Shot 79 with a mental breakdown finishing bogey-bogey-bogey on a tough three hole stretch where I go scared of the water blowing up my 70s round and yanked three drivers in a row after pumping it long down the middle all day and then hit two of three approaches scared-yanked away from  water as well. Feeling like I can put some 70s rounds together this season!