Are you a Better Golfer than a Year Ago?

[boogielicious]

19 hours ago, MOODY said:

DM, yes I have thought of posting my swing but I am too embarrassed at this point to do so.

What I am thinking of doing is make a video of me now since it would give a good laugh and hopefully one after I improve.  If I don't improve then it won't matter as I will be using all of my spare time to start fishing again and forget that I ever played this game.

Post it. It’s not embarrassing. So many of us have had trouble and got help here.

[iacas]

20 hours ago, MOODY said:

DM, yes I have thought of posting my swing but I am too embarrassed at this point to do so.

What I am thinking of doing is make a video of me now since it would give a good laugh and hopefully one after I improve.  If I don't improve then it won't matter as I will be using all of my spare time to start fishing again and forget that I ever played this game.

Like others have said, post. It's not embarrassing. You've seemingly been getting some bad advice from an instructor, as nobody should really get worse or at least worst AND confused as to why they're worse.

And, if you're more fatalistic, you've got nothing to lose.

[MOODY]

I will and try to get some swing video this weekend.  My daughter is letting me use her fancy phone stand and I will be able to get behind the line and face on.  I will even put my Zepp on and give you the data from it for that swing.  That is weather permitting, right now in Central Texas with weather can be iffy with rain and thunderstorms.  That, and it is getting hotter than Hades already.

[billchao]

The answer to both of these questions for me is still yes. Last year I was a 14.7 or something, right now I'm a 12.0. I continue to put in work towards improvement so I don't see that downward trend from year to year ending anytime soon.

[ShaftFarmer]

Both questions are a yes. Unfortunately, I only got out once last year but this year has been much better. Even without golfing a lot in the last few years, my game is still probably the most consistent it has ever been. Spent a lot of time working on my swing during quarantine and I am hoping to be down around a 10 handicap by the end of the year. Currently sitting around 13-14 handicap 

[barooo]

It's been a trip, but definitely yes on the first question and probably the second.

On the first, a year ago I was just starting to see some progress with a centered pivot and not sliding my hips instead and also fixing some plane issues with my backswing.  A month or so later I shot my first < 100 score.  I took the winter off, then I had a C6/C7 spinal fusion in my neck back in february so I had an extended forced layoff.  When I got cleared to play again in June, my driving range was closed due to COVID, so when I did get a chance to play last month, I was rusty and treated the first round as a practice opportunity, didn't keep score played extra balls or shots, but felt like I was swinging pretty good, and was moving my body a lot better than before.  Next two rounds were also in the 90's and the round I played a couple days ago was easily the best ballstriking of my life, so it feels like I've turned a corner.  I didn't have any neck symptoms until the winter, but I bet it was affecting me before that, or maybe PT just helped with my mobility in ways that pay off in the swing.

I had 46 putts in that last round, so many 3- putts and even a 4-putt.  Didn't make a single one-putt and only had a couple two-putts and I think both were birdie opportunities, so I'm going to focus on putting for a bit, it's easy to practice at home, and I should be able to shave 5+ strokes off pretty quickly and that gets me close to the 80's if I can keep swinging like I have been.

[ChetlovesMer]

I had to change my vote on this. I was making steady progress up until about a year or a year and a half ago. 
But this year, I'm terrible right now. 

Lots of reasons for it. But I am certainly much worse than I was a year ago. 

I expect to be a lot better a year from now... not sure how I could get worse. 

[Leek]

I've been on a steady downward slide for 12 years. Every year I'm worse than the year before. My short game is better than it's been in years, but my ballstriking is worse, and I'm shorter by about two-three clubs. 

I won my flight in my club championship 12 years ago and quit playing any events at all. I barely played for about nine years or so. I played about 3 times per month in June, July and August, not much else at all. Nothing in winter.I started again two years ago working with a local pro who is helping me build a new swing. It took a long time to begin to get my backswing where we want it, and since June have been working on transition through impact. I recently jumped on a Flightscope and found my driver swing has about the same clubhead speed my 9 iron had in 2015! I think a part of this is my concentration on putting the club into specific positions, especially on the backswing and transition. I'm still ingraining the changes.

Oh and another minor thing, in those 12 years, I've also aged from 54 to 66. I suspect aging is involved 🙂 I recently purchased Super Speed sticks and I'll see if I can recapture anything.

Getting old sucks!

 

[DrvFrShow]

I'm making better decisions than I did a year ago. I'm putting better than I did a year ago. I'm longer than I was a year ago. But I'm not as consistent as I was a year ago.

[greatgolfahead]

I picked up golf from my brother-in-law 8 years ago and have been playing on a regular basis since then. I think that , like a lot of people new to golf, we accepted advice from fellow golfers and experimented with different setups, grips, etc.  I gradually found what works well for me to produce a consistent shot flight and make contact.but it wasn't until early this summer that I was lucky to find a coach that helped me to play better golf.  I say lucky, because I've come across lots of advice before, paid and unpaid, but this particular coach was able to quickly identify that my pre-shot routine was causing a lot of inconsistencies.  He noticed that I was doing something different before every shot. He emphasized that a lot of golfers can strike the ball, but their pre-shot routine costs them a lot of strokes because they fail to properly aim their swing and club face. It made immediate sense. Pro-golfers have a consistent pre-shot routine, so should we. By having a routine of visualization and aim, I could then train my body to repeat the shots so to speak. 

I've been able to legitimately shoot in the 90s, no gimmes and mulligans, in the last 6 rounds just with a solid pre-shot routine.  I still top balls or hit fat on occasion, but in general my overall game is better. 

My pre-shot routine:

1. Tee up the ball

2. Practice swing behind the ball, and visualize the ball flight and shape.  Most of the time it's one gentle practice swing to visualize what I want the outcome to be

3. Get to the ball, aim the club face, look down target line, setup the feet, look down target line again, and swing.

Key take-aways are to NOT glue your eyes to the ball and become rigid. Be fluid and look up to the target. Once you advance to the third step, it shouldn't take you more than 10 seconds to hit the ball.

My next goal is to figure out how to shoot in the 80s.  Will the skills that got me to shooting in the 90s get me to the 80s?

Best of training and success!

Edited September 5, 2020 by greatgolfahead

[Double Mocha Man]

41 minutes ago, greatgolfahead said:

I picked up golf from my brother-in-law 8 years ago and have been playing on a regular basis since then. I think that , like a lot of people new to golf, we accepted advice from fellow golfers and experimented with different setups, grips, etc.  I gradually found what works well for me to produce a consistent shot flight and make contact.but it wasn't until early this summer that I was lucky to find a coach that helped me to play better golf.  I say lucky, because I've come across lots of advice before, paid and unpaid, but this particular coach was able to quickly identify that my pre-shot routine was causing a lot of inconsistencies.  He noticed that I was doing something different before every shot. He emphasized that a lot of golfers can strike the ball, but their pre-shot routine costs them a lot of strokes because they fail to properly aim their swing and club face. It made immediate sense. Pro-golfers have a consistent pre-shot routine, so should we. By having a routine of visualization and aim, I could then train my body to repeat the shots so to speak. 

I've been able to legitimately shoot in the 90s, no gimmes and mulligans, in the last 6 rounds just with a solid pre-shot routine.  I still top balls or hit fat on occasion, but in general my overall game is better. 

My pre-shot routine:

1. Tee up the ball

2. Practice swing behind the ball, and visualize the ball flight and shape.  Most of the time it's one gentle practice swing to visualize what I want the outcome to be

3. Get to the ball, aim the club face, look down target line, setup the feet, look down target line again, and swing.

Key take-aways are to NOT glue your eyes to the ball and become rigid. Be fluid and look up to the target. Once you advance to the third step, it shouldn't take you more than 10 seconds to hit the ball.

My next goal is to figure out how to shoot in the 80s.  Will the skills that got me to shooting in the 90s get me to the 80s?

Best of training and success!

A pre-shot routine only takes you so far.  For the sake of other golfers please keep it to 10 seconds total.  And get off my lawn.  Feeling grumpy and I have a golfing friend who has a 30-40 second pre-shot routine.  I choose not to play with him that often.  Eventually you have to just hit the dang ball!  Keep notes... does that pre-shot routine really help???  Or is it a crutch?  Told you I was grumpy. Question:  What if a 2 minute pre-shot routine worked for you and you could shoot even par... would you use it?!

[tehuti]

Yes, I feel I am a better golfer this year, but no it is not reflected in my handicap. I still have blowup rounds but I have recently had some lower scores. The big difference is I have a fwy and hybrid that I can hit that I did not have last year.

Hopefully by this time next year I will be scoring lower consistently.

[greatgolfahead]

1 hour ago, Double Mocha Man said:

A pre-shot routine only takes you so far.  For the sake of other golfers please keep it to 10 seconds total.  And get off my lawn.  Feeling grumpy and I have a golfing friend who has a 30-40 second pre-shot routine.  I choose not to play with him that often.  Eventually you have to just hit the dang ball!  Keep notes... does that pre-shot routine really help???  Or is it a crutch?  Told you I was grumpy. Question:  What if a 2 minute pre-shot routine worked for you and you could shoot even par... would you use it?!

From my experience and observations, I think that a good shot is highly correlated to what occurs in the pre-shot routine, and anything post 30 seconds, IMO, is unnecessary and has no return on investment. I've seen golfers become statues and stare at the ball for what seems like a long time, only to mishit the ball.  We can't  hypnotize the ball into getting in the hole; our muscles need active guidance to produce what we envision--I guess what we might call "muscle memory/rehearsal" in the pre-shot routine.  Different lies requires know-how and practice--no way to think your way into good ball striking.

On a different note, I blew up on the first two holes today, a bad drive on the first and poor contact on the 2nd shot of the 2nd hole, BUT I can say with confidence that I committed to all the shots and knew what I wanted to do, except I just didn't make good contact. In other words, if I planned well, then it brings satisfaction.

Edited September 6, 2020 by greatgolfahead

[greatgolfahead]

13 minutes ago, tehuti said:

Yes, I feel I am a better golfer this year, but no it is not reflected in my handicap. I still have blowup rounds but I have recently had some lower scores. The big difference is I have a fwy and hybrid that I can hit that I did not have last year.

Hopefully by this time next year I will be scoring lower consistently.

I also have hybrids and use them when I can.  Probably the greatest invention for golf; you can contact almost anywhere on the face of a wood/hybrid and still flight the ball 

[tehuti]

19 minutes ago, greatgolfahead said:

I also have hybrids and use them when I can.  Probably the greatest invention for golf; you can contact almost anywhere on the face of a wood/hybrid and still flight the ball 

 

19 minutes ago, greatgolfahead said:

I also have hybrids and use them when I can.  Probably the greatest invention for golf; you can contact almost anywhere on the face of a wood/hybrid and still flight the ball 

I agree with you to a degree. It took me 2 or 3 tries with hybrids before I found one I can hit well. same for fwy woods. I couldn’t use my 3 wood except off the tee. I replaced it with a 4 wood that I can hit off the deck as well as off the tee.

[Mr22putt]

30 minutes ago, tehuti said:

 

I agree with you to a degree. It took me 2 or 3 tries with hybrids before I found one I can hit well. same for fwy woods. I couldn’t use my 3 wood except off the tee. I replaced it with a 4 wood that I can hit off the deck as well as off the tee.

So what model hybrids and FW did you settle on?

[Edsland]

Yes I believe I am, because of staying around the house so much this spring and early summer I worked on my chipping and knock on wood it’s working so far. 

[Themightyoz]

Well it's been quite a year.  I am not improving as quickly as I would like, but in the last four years my average score has dropped from 126 to 105.  It's a slow process.  I feel my control of the ball has gotten a lot better and I feel hat I can take more risks.  I can cut corners on dog legs and am starting to be able to shape the ball left and right on command.  I think if I can get my short game under control I am on th edge of regularly hitting in the mid nineties to high eighties.