The frustration is real!

[Kbeery]

Hey guys, new to the forum but visit frequently. I am also a fairly new golfer (about 1 year in) and I go through the most inconsistent phases. I genuinely love the game but I don't know if I've had more of a love/hate relationship in my life. 

I recently (about a month ago) broke 100 for the first time and I was ecstatic. I was happy with the majority of my game and felt like I only needed to tweak a few things to hit the next tier. Well, I was wrong. I have gotten so much worse since then and I just can't understand why. I have had multiple chip ins and an eagle from 100 yards which gave me the biggest natural high imagine able. Since then it has been the complete opposite. I try to take tips from my low handicap friends like grip changes and foot position, but I can't make anything work.

Driver: I have never been consistent with my driver but my bad hits usually just meant a bad slice. Now I literally can't hit this club. When I swing my driver the ball does not get airborne and just rolls out in front of me. Ball position is inside my right heel (im a lefty) and I take a very wide and slow back swing, something happens in my down swing that does not allow me to hit the ball square on the face. 

Woods: I recently switched to my 3 wood off the tee and was hitting it very straight in the 230-240 yard range. I am now experiencing the same result as my driver. 

Irons: My wedges are ok, I can usually make good contact and get good ball flight. The best part of my game is from about 100 yards, I have been consistently hitting greens from that distance. Anything 7 iron and beyond though is tragic. If I do hit the ball in the air I have a low ball flight and not very much distance. 5 iron and beyond is even worse usually resulting in ground balls (which I've learned to accept as long as they stay on the fairway). 

I I actually just left the range but did not take any videos..I will try to get some the next time I go. I have so many thoughts when I walk up to the ball..get comfortable, head down, slow backswing and weight shift. I feel like it's too much to process and it's hard to focus on the things I do right when I do so many things wrong. I played with some guys from work a few days ago and was so embarassed I wanted to give up. I hit a bad tee shot, take a drop and hit a ground ball. I love the game and want to get better, but getting worse every time I swing a club has to end at some point...right?! 

Ive ve had some miraculous golf shots and they gave me so much confidence and I feel like a switch was flipped to forget everything I've learned. I play quite frequently with hope that something changes, maybe it will turn around soon with some guideance. If anyone has some advice or needs a little more information before I can get a video I will be more than happy to provide it! 

 

Thanks!!

[RandallT]

38 minutes ago, Kbeery said:

I try to take tips from my low handicap friends like grip changes and foot position, but I can't make anything work

Step 1. Stop taking tips. 

You'll want to build yourself a plan to get from where you are to where you want to be, and piecemeal tips will only detract from that.

Step 2. Find a good resource. You'll want to find out for yourself what the fundamentals of a good swing are. 

I am not a salesman, but if I were to start now as you are, I'd purchase the book Lowest Score Wins (http://lowestscorewins.com/) and start there with the intro section on advancing the ball. That's the key- advance it consistently.  You'll find lots of tie-ins with that book in this site here, and you can create a "My Swing" thread here (film your swing properly too: https://thesandtrap.com/b/playing_tips/filming_your_swing).

Armed with the book and your swing area, you'll find instructional content below that is cross-referenced a lot. TONS of information in there, all organized by 5 keys: 

 

Step 3. No matter what methodology you chose to guide your learning, stick to fixing one thing at a time. Use slow motion and video to assess yourself. Learn how to practice:

Going to the range and pounding away at balls is WRONG. I've learned that.

Step 4. Have fun. Welcome to TST, and if you choose to improve here, I can say there'll likely be lots of support (particularly if you go the route in Step 2, but not required)- if you choose to interact with other topics here and generally contribute in topics that interest you.

 

 

[DaveP043]

48 minutes ago, Kbeery said:

Ive ve had some miraculous golf shots and they gave me so much confidence and I feel like a switch was flipped to forget everything I've learned. I play quite frequently with hope that something changes, maybe it will turn around soon with some guideance. If anyone has some advice or needs a little more information before I can get a video I will be more than happy to provide it! 

One word, instruction.  You don't know what you're doing right to hit those miraculous shots, or what you're doing wrong to hit the lousy ones.  You try tips from your buddies, but in all probability they're no better than temporary band-aids, and at worst they're conterproductive.   Going to the range on your own, with no idea of what you're trying to work on, is exercise, its not productive practice.  

Find a competent instructor (I can't really tell you how to tell a competent one from a bad one), identify a priority, and spend time on the range to work on that priority, and keep repeating that cycle. You can definitely get good advice here by posting videos.  

[70sSanO]

If you want to continue, you need to find a good instructor.  Your low handicap friends hopefully can give you some names of instructors that they recommend.  I am usually in the 90's so I know the feeling of good shot/bad shot great putt/four putt.

I can't fix your swing, because it can be so many things, but I can tell you that what usually throws me off is when I try to tweak too many things and before I know it I am so far removed from where I came from... that is where an instructor can hopefully clear all that garbage out of your mind.

John

[Rainmaker]

There are a lot of really fascinating aspects of the golf swing and one that I've recently discovered is that, once you learn to do s thing right in your swing, you forget what it's like to do it wrong. 

This is at least one reason why you specifically need to learn how to teach golf. Your low cap friends have the best intentions but unless they've learned how to teach golf, your results could be pretty hot or miss with their tips and advice. 

Get instruction from an instructor.  Even YouTube videos from a good instructor are way better than tips you'll get from most players - even very good ones. 

[boogielicious]

I agree with @RandallT and @DaveP043. Start by posting a video of your swing in the Member Swings section and avoid magazine tips!

[70sSanO]

So, how are things going?

John