I'm moving backwards

[joey_longoria]

So a little history, I've been playing the game for about 2 1/2 years now and have been obsessed. I've put in a lot of work because I want to become very good at this game and I know I have the talent/mindset to play for a living. In 2 years I got my handicap down to a 6 and hit high 70's a few times. My short game has been my rock, I'm confident I can get up and down from anywhere and that's how I scored well playing from the white tees. I started playing the blues and blacks at some courses and scored alright with the over the top big fade I was playing but I knew I needed to start hitting the ball with more compression just to add a little distance and a lot more control. Throughout my short career I've taught myself through videos and books, so I went back to work trying to make a few suttle tweaks to improve my swing. Ever since I tried to take this step forward I've been going so far backwards it's honestly mind boggling. I have no confidence in my swing and I know I need my short game to save me at times but when I'm shanking balls and struggling to make my way around the course it creeps into my short game because I'm ready to quit after a few triples. Maybe I'm stupid to not take a lesson but I have a tremendous work ethic and I couldn't see why I shouldn't be able to learn through an online teacher so to speak. I film my swing so I do have feedback and some days on the range I feel like I've found the magic and I will take off again and low scores will show up but I'm eventually disappointed by another round in the high 90's. Let me know what your thought are, any input is appreciated, thank you.

[Piz]

You aren't going backward; you just aren't going forward as quickly as you did when you began.  That is the way of the game.  It stands to reason that a skill cannot be improved, indefinitely, at the same rate.  Give yourself credit for the progress you've made thus far; and accept that "experience" has no fast-forward option.  You have done well, grasshopper, but you have much to learn.  That will take time.

[Papa Steve 55]

Welcome to the forum!

The lesson part is silly. Most, if not all,  tour players have a full time coach . It sounds like you a little swing flaw, and all that work has grooved it in. Have somebody else look at your swing, you can even post a video on here......and get 11 different versions of what your doing wrong. One might even be right.

Kidding there, we have some smart golfers on here.

Edited December 10, 2017 by Papa Steve 55

[Vinsk]

If golf was a sport that one can continually improve upon, I'd humiliate Tiger, Dustin, Jordan and Justin on a bad day. However, the important thing is to instill proper practice. You sound like you have the dedication as I do and probably better innate skills as well. I've played golf on and off since I was about 10 years old, I'm 48 now. With your dedication I recommend you research the 5 Keys which are presented throughout this site as well as available for DVD for your convenience. The instructors on this site are impeccable as well. You can even get free analysis done on your swing if you start a 'My Swing' thread. But with your dedication I'd suggest you look into Evolvr which is more involved and direct with an instructor online. Isn't this a great game! I've never loved a sport like I love golf so glad to see another obsessed player. 

Go to the tab at the top of your page that says "Information". Then click on "Instructional Content". That is a gold mine for excellent instruction with explanations and videos as well. Welcome! 

[joey_longoria]

1 hour ago, Piz said:

You aren't going backward; you just aren't going forward as quickly as you did when you began.  That is the way of the game.  It stands to reason that a skill cannot be improved, indefinitely, at the same rate.  Give yourself credit for the progress you've made thus far; and accept that "experience" has no fast-forward option.  You have done well, grasshopper, but you have much to learn.  That will take time.

Thank you but I should've mentioned this has been going on for 6th months, I'm in a major slump and I can't put a decent round together by any means. Maybe go back to fundamentals I'm not sure, taking a week off then going back at it

[mcanadiens]

When you are doing it on your own (and I have been) it is really hard to know where you are going wrong. Maybe, going the worst wrong is the better way of putting it.

For me, I got limitations budget-wise that stop me from taking regular lessons. I recognize that holds me back and am hoping for a good busy season this year to allow for some pro help. Like the fellas here always say, feel ain't real. What you think you are doing may not be what you are really doing.

Edited December 10, 2017 by mcanadiens

[DaveP043]

16 hours ago, joey_longoria said:

 Maybe I'm stupid to not take a lesson but I have a tremendous work ethic and I couldn't see why I shouldn't be able to learn through an online teacher so to speak. I film my swing so I do have feedback 

I won't call you stupid, but you almost certainly don't have the skills to look at your own swing,  diagnose your faults, and determine the single most important thing to change to get better.  I've played golf for over 45 years, have had a handicap in the single digits for the last 20 years, and I know I don't have those skills either.  I strongly recommend you get some good instruction, whether its in person, through personal video instruction like evolvr, or by posting videos in the My Swing section here at The SandTrap.  You know what they say about lawyers who represent themselves in court, that they have a fool for a client.  The same might be said about (almost all) golfers who try to teach themselves to swing.

[saevel25]

17 hours ago, joey_longoria said:

Maybe I'm stupid to not take a lesson but I have a tremendous work ethic and I couldn't see why I shouldn't be able to learn through an online teacher so to speak. I film my swing so I do have feedback and some days on the range I feel like I've found the magic and I will take off again and low scores will show up but I'm eventually disappointed by another round in the high 90's. Let me know what your thought are, any input is appreciated, thank you.

 Because you can not substitute good in person lessons. The big thing is the instructor can see if you are doing drills or practicing correctly. 

No matter how hard your work ethic is. If you start doing something wrong then you’ll just be hurting your progress. 

Another important thing is being able to recognize your priorities. Going to online instruction is a shot in the dark type really. You have no clue if something will work for you. 

Edited December 10, 2017 by saevel25

[Lihu]

15 hours ago, joey_longoria said:

Thank you but I should've mentioned this has been going on for 6th months, I'm in a major slump and I can't put a decent round together by any means. Maybe go back to fundamentals I'm not sure, taking a week off then going back at it

From what I've read, your short game is what helps you score well, but what I understand about golf is that your long game is your foundation.

Work on your long game, and get a good instructor to look at your swing.

Welcome to golf, the world of frustration if you expect too much.

[Patch]

I went through the same issue as the OP discribed back in my younger days. Got my self down to a 6 rather easily, and even shot par a few times. This by reading books, and watching videos. Like the OP, I wanted to shave more strokes off, and started tweaking stuff. That 6 turned into an 8, and the 8 turned into a 10 before I knew it. 

What I did was put my clubs away for a few weeks. During my self imposed exile from golf, I went back to my learning basics of what got me down to that 6. 

When I dusted off the clubs, and used my own basics of instruction, I was back down to a 6 again in a few weeks. 

After that I went on a search for an instructor to see if I could get lower than a 6. I took a while to find the right instructor, and I eventually found the right guy. We stayed together for a few years. I eventually shaved some strokes off for short periods of time, but 6 was my consistant number. 

[JonMA1]

15 hours ago, mcanadiens said:

When you are doing it on your own (and I have been) it is really hard to know where you are going wrong. Maybe, going the worst wrong is the better way of putting it.

For me, I got limitations budget-wise that stop me from taking regular lessons. I recognize that holds me back and am hoping for a good busy season this year to allow for some pro help. Like the fellas here always say, feel ain't real. What you think you are doing may not be what you are really doing.

@joey_longoria Listen to what these guys are saying about getting help. You may have better than average talent, but the odds of you tapping into that potential are smaller without help.

Taking online lessons from a good pro is a better approach than viewing videos yourself to determine what's holding you back. At the same time, the pro would provide the right drills or feels to correct them in the most efficient way. 

I will echo what @mcanadienssaid above. I could be the poster child for trying to figure this crap out on my own. Even if I could recognize my biggest fault, knowing how to fix it is the proverbial needle in a haystack. So instead of lessons, I just keep trying different things and hoping a solution will present itself. That trial and error method is a big reason why I still suck at this game.

A small percentage of players can get good on their own, but you have to wonder how much better they'd have been if given good instruction at an early stage.

Good luck and welcome to the community.

[WUTiger]

On 12/9/2017 at 6:05 PM, Papa Steve 55 said:

Welcome to the forum!

The lesson part is silly. Most, if not all,  tour players have a full time coach . It sounds like you a little swing flaw, and all that work has grooved it in. ...

Joey_L,

If your basic swing is an over the top slice, you are not hitting the ball as squarely as you could. By working on your own, you are grooving in a bad move.

On 12/9/2017 at 8:28 PM, mcanadiens said:

When you are doing it on your own (and I have been) it is really hard to know where you are going wrong. Maybe, going the worst wrong is the better way of putting it....

A good teaching pro can take you farther in 30 minutes than you can take yourself in a whole summer of hit-and-miss self fixes.

13 hours ago, DaveP043 said:

...  I strongly recommend you get some good instruction, whether its in person, through personal video instruction like evolvr, or by posting videos in the My Swing section here at The SandTrap.  You know what they say about lawyers who represent themselves in court, that they have a fool for a client.  The same might be said about (almost all) golfers who try to teach themselves to swing.

Maybe one in 20 golfers can self-teach themselves and get really competitive. The rest of us need good coaching, coupled with proper practice.

If you don't have good fundamentals, it's hard to make consistent improvement. You've fallen into the swamp of good rounds then bad rounds, and you don't quite know why.

[dbuck]

Can't add much to what Dave and Wutiger said.

There is no substitute for quality instruction.

If you are hitting bad shots, then what you THINK you are doing is not what you ARE doing. Bad practice grooves bad habits,

 Grip, setup,backswing, downswing, follow through to finish.

If grip and setup are incorrect, everything that follows will require compensation to overcome.

 

[The Hook Meister]

I know its very frustrating, You start playing in the low eighty's and then you can't seem to break ninety. When to tried to ht the ball a little bit farther you sped up your swing and probably threw your back swing a little off. The results of which can be ugly. I have been there. Now I don' worry about score so much.. I go out there for the fresh air some exercise with a little frustration thrown in  for free. If you are really serious about your score then break down and go get a couple of lessons.