BAD BAD BAD form

[JV24601]

Here's a little synopsis of my issue:

• I've down to 9 in 5 years of playing - started near enough as maximum as you can.
• I got down to 16 then started getting bouts of shanks.
• The last 2 years I've been terrible for 95% of the time, but come down from 16 to 9.
• The last 2 years I've had the shanks 3 times but I think (!) I know why now and haven't had them for a while.
• Even without the shanks I'm still playing like a 28 handicapper for the majority of the time.
• The last 2 years in my 2 x 3 week good spells, I've had rounds of net +4, +4, +5, +5, and a few +6's.

So due to the very short lived bouts of form I believe I can get to 5, and people tell me I can often when they see me play, even when I play poor.
For the past few weeks however I'm beginning to wonder how on earth I've got to 9.
I've had 4 rounds this season over 100 and loads in the 90's.

People are telling me I'm going to click very soon and be consistently good.
I'm not after swing tips or anything, I just want to know or get some advice on how this happens to me? I'm a confident person, my nerves really don't feel like they're an issue, I play a lot of sports to a decent level but none outstandingly so, but I want to know why this massive inconsistency is in my game.
I can't remember playing to my handicap ever. I'm either well below it or stupidly above it, there is no middle ground.

So the question is, not how can I get my handicap down (because I know it would come down if I played to my potential more regularly), it is why the MASSIVE inconsistency is in my game?

I understand the game and that everybody is inconsistent and I hear all of the stories about that, but they're stuff like 12 handicappers playing to 25 one week or a scratch golfer shooting a 10 over now and then. Mine are so regular.
Wednesday night for example I had 3 points after 10 holes and I'd had an air shot!!! 3 nights ago I shot a 4 over at my course and my putting had been very poor - everything just felt right and my swing was so nice and easy.

Please give me some answers/pearls of wisdom/anything forum readers... I'm at a very low ebb and seem to have been here - golf wise - for a long long time (apart from the odd couple of weeks out of 100)

 

[User 105]

Wow. You must be my twin.

I was going to post something very similar. Been playing about the same time. Got down to 11 a few years ago. In the past couple of years I've shot better than my handicap maybe 2-3 times in about 200 rounds. Which keeps my handicap around 11.

Most of the time I'm shooting anywhere between high 80's to low 100's. With the occasional (once every 3-4 months) buffer round in there.

I'm playing the same amount of golf, practicing the same and having lessons pretty much the same as before. But I have absolutely no consistency and I seem to be getting worse if anything.

I'm borderline on quitting as I just hate playing at the moment. I'm probably going to give golf a rest for a month or two and see how I feel.

So I'd really like to hear other's opinions on this as well.

 

[Hacker Khan]

You can't be terrible 95% of the time and go down from 16 to 9. So some perspective is possibly needed so you can enjoy it. As if you are beating yourself up after you have gone to a single figure handicap then you possibly need to loosen up a bit and smell the roses. If you are not a tour pro practicing 5 hours a day you will be inconsistent.

Golf is hard to the vast majority of people, despite what a small minority of people on here would have you believe. Accept it so you can then maybe enjoy it. And if you are not enjoying it then quit, as golf is a very expensive and time consuming way of doing something you do not enjoy

 

[Curls]

You've got number blindness. I would advise you not to count the shots you're taking or add up as you go along, but I think you might need to reset the clock first.

You're greatest handicap is your handicap, the amount you think about it, the amount you're allowing it define you, not just on the course but as a person. Imagine you go out and storm two rounds and get ESR cut to 5, what will happen? Your friends will love you more? Didn't think so.

What if someone says you should be scratch, are you going to beat yourself up about being off 5? We all get a bit annoyed at times about the state of our game, it comes and goes, you only ever borrow a swing and its the hardest game in the world at which you have achieved a very decent standard in a short space of time. So if you are at a low ebb at the moment then the sport you play recreationally is having a negative emotional impact way beyond it's significance, so here is my advice...

Grab a buddy, either go to a different course or play at home, and play a foursome round. One ball, knock it about between ye. You advise him like you're his caddy and he advises you. Just see what ye shoot. Don't apply any handicap, don't even look at the stroke index, it doesn't matter. Just get out there and try to remember why you play, enjoy the course, the fresh air, the company - because if the only reason you play is so you can define yourself as a 9, or 18, or 5 handicap you are going to be in for a pretty miserable time of it thanks to something you're supposed to be doing for fun.

Chin up lad, stop counting, we are all incalculably lucky to be in a position to play this game.

 

[Region3]

I would guess - and emphasis on the word "guess" - that you have a basic flaw in your swing (probably too much lateral movement as another guess) that means you have to have your timing spot on to make good contact.

On your good days your natural ability and hand/eye coordination win the battle, and on your bad days they lose and you won't feel like you're doing anything differently.

If this sounds anywhere near the mark, half an hour with a pro would be plenty of time for him or her to spot it.

 

[garyinderry]

Lateral shift off he ball had me shanking last winter. I couldn't work it out as I hit a shank no matter what backswing or downswing I tried and I tried all of them.

It took bob and the coach seconds to diagnose and me one swing to fix.

Unreal. I was about to ebay my club collection. Lol

 

[User 105]

I know this is something I've been prone to in the past. I had a lesson with my pro on Monday and there wasn't any significant sway visible then.

I'm away until the middle of next week now. So I'll take a look when I get back.

 

[99problemsbutapitchaint1]

I am in a rush to get out the door, but did i just read you shoot in the 100s and think you should be a 5?

That does not compute on any level, when i was a 5, shooting in the 100s just simply COULD not happen, it is not possible to be THAT bad as a 5 handicap

 

[Craigg]

Chin up lad, stop counting, we are all incalculably lucky to be in a position to play this game.

And these, are the wisest words I've seen written anywhere for a while.

 

[snell]

Just came home from another poor round, so I feel your pain.

Last week I was playing my best golf ever, this week its as if I've never swung a club. Hitting thins, fats, shanks....you name it ive hit it, apart from the elusive 'good' shot! And everything just feels alien to me. The only thing I can do is chip!

 

[Beezerk]

Just came home from another poor round, so I feel your pain.

Last week I was playing my best golf ever, this week its as if I've never swung a club. Hitting thins, fats, shanks....you name it ive hit it, apart from the elusive 'good' shot! And everything just feels alien to me. The only thing I can do is chip!

You didn't throw your driver into the trees today then?

 

[snell]

You didn't throw your driver into the trees today then?

Not far off........last time i look for your banana shots oo:. Even if I tried id have missed right!

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Here's a little synopsis of my issue:

• I've down to 9 in 5 years of playing - started near enough as maximum as you can.
• I got down to 16 then started getting bouts of shanks.
• The last 2 years I've been terrible for 95% of the time, but come down from 16 to 9.
• The last 2 years I've had the shanks 3 times but I think (!) I know why now and haven't had them for a while.
• Even without the shanks I'm still playing like a 28 handicapper for the majority of the time.
• The last 2 years in my 2 x 3 week good spells, I've had rounds of net +4, +4, +5, +5, and a few +6's.

So due to the very short lived bouts of form I believe I can get to 5, and people tell me I can often when they see me play, even when I play poor.
For the past few weeks however I'm beginning to wonder how on earth I've got to 9.
I've had 4 rounds this season over 100 and loads in the 90's.

People are telling me I'm going to click very soon and be consistently good.
I'm not after swing tips or anything, I just want to know or get some advice on how this happens to me? I'm a confident person, my nerves really don't feel like they're an issue, I play a lot of sports to a decent level but none outstandingly so, but I want to know why this massive inconsistency is in my game.
I can't remember playing to my handicap ever. I'm either well below it or stupidly above it, there is no middle ground.

So the question is, not how can I get my handicap down (because I know it would come down if I played to my potential more regularly), it is why the MASSIVE inconsistency is in my game?

I understand the game and that everybody is inconsistent and I hear all of the stories about that, but they're stuff like 12 handicappers playing to 25 one week or a scratch golfer shooting a 10 over now and then. Mine are so regular.
Wednesday night for example I had 3 points after 10 holes and I'd had an air shot!!! 3 nights ago I shot a 4 over at my course and my putting had been very poor - everything just felt right and my swing was so nice and easy.

Please give me some answers/pearls of wisdom/anything forum readers... I'm at a very low ebb and seem to have been here - golf wise - for a long long time (apart from the odd couple of weeks out of 100)

Wow. You must be my twin.

I was going to post something very similar. Been playing about the same time. Got down to 11 a few years ago. In the past couple of years I've shot better than my handicap maybe 2-3 times in about 200 rounds. Which keeps my handicap around 11.

Most of the time I'm shooting anywhere between high 80's to low 100's. With the occasional (once every 3-4 months) buffer round in there.

I'm playing the same amount of golf, practicing the same and having lessons pretty much the same as before. But I have absolutely no consistency and I seem to be getting worse if anything.

I'm borderline on quitting as I just hate playing at the moment. I'm probably going to give golf a rest for a month or two and see how I feel.

So I'd really like to hear other's opinions on this as well.

Men cut from the same cloth. I know I'm good enough for single figures and some of the practice I do proves it myself and yet I can miss buffer zones with consummate ease and ruin relatively good rounds with two disaster holes at a whim. I have the same issues with consistency. Won the June stableford and took the roll up money the week after and then shot +8 and +9 over my handicap in club champs. It's a question (in my own mind) of doing the right stuff in practice and lessons and working hard (it doesn't come easy) and then trusting that and letting go on the course. And therein lies the problem

 

[99problemsbutapitchaint1]

Practising of grass makes a big difference
I hit of mats loads but its NOT golf, you never have that surface when playing, its just totally false, hit of actual grass taking actual divots, with actual golf balls not range versions.
Practise out of slightly poor lies, you aint getting perfect ones all day long etc
I did this with a 5 and 8 iron for a couple of weeks 3 hours minimum a day, handicap tumbled, as i new i could pull an iron and KNOW the WORST shot i would hit, the BEST you can hit is not really the issue, what is the WORST you can hit, improve that and you will improve your game.

 

[nickjdavis]

To the OP....

Expectation is a terrible burden to carry on your shoulders.... it weighs heavily... most heavily when something is at stake like another 0.1 going on your handicap when you really think that a 0.8 cut is on the cards.

I don't know how you can relieve yourself of this....I suffer from it myself but haven't found a cure....I can offer no solutions.

I play my best golf after work, when Ive got a days issues wheeling round my head whilst I play... the golf becomes automatic, almost Zen like and I feel as though I'm just floating round the course... and I walk off the 18 and find Ive shot a score in the low 70's.

When it comes to a weekend comp... I'm prepared, I've checked the wind, I know which holes are playing down/up/across wind... I've got a shot strategy formulated for each of them... hell I might take a club out of the bag and replace it with something different to take advantage of the wind on a certain hole. Ive got a drink and something to eat to maintain energy levels, Ive got to the course early, I've loosened up...a couple of dozen balls on the range, a bit of chipping, some putts on the practice green just to "get the pace"... I'm fired up...today will be the day when that score I've been tossing off regularly in practice becomes a competition reality.

I walk off with a score on the low 80's....a litany of dropped shots just leaking from the scorecard like a dripping tap.

(ok so its not like shooting a score in the 90's but you get the picture!!)

Yep.... learning to relieve yourself of expectation (no matter how reasonable that expectation is!!) might go some way to helping you. But how to do that? Heaven knows. Actually I expect the answer is more likely to be found in Hell... and I'm not sure for the sake of my golfing sanity that I want to go there.

 

[Siren]

Here's a little synopsis of my issue:

• I've down to 9 in 5 years of playing - started near enough as maximum as you can.
• I got down to 16 then started getting bouts of shanks.
• The last 2 years I've been terrible for 95% of the time, but come down from 16 to 9.
• The last 2 years I've had the shanks 3 times but I think (!) I know why now and haven't had them for a while.
• Even without the shanks I'm still playing like a 28 handicapper for the majority of the time.
• The last 2 years in my 2 x 3 week good spells, I've had rounds of net +4, +4, +5, +5, and a few +6's.

So due to the very short lived bouts of form I believe I can get to 5, and people tell me I can often when they see me play, even when I play poor.
For the past few weeks however I'm beginning to wonder how on earth I've got to 9.
I've had 4 rounds this season over 100 and loads in the 90's.

People are telling me I'm going to click very soon and be consistently good.
I'm not after swing tips or anything, I just want to know or get some advice on how this happens to me? I'm a confident person, my nerves really don't feel like they're an issue, I play a lot of sports to a decent level but none outstandingly so, but I want to know why this massive inconsistency is in my game.
I can't remember playing to my handicap ever. I'm either well below it or stupidly above it, there is no middle ground.

So the question is, not how can I get my handicap down (because I know it would come down if I played to my potential more regularly), it is why the MASSIVE inconsistency is in my game?

I understand the game and that everybody is inconsistent and I hear all of the stories about that, but they're stuff like 12 handicappers playing to 25 one week or a scratch golfer shooting a 10 over now and then. Mine are so regular.
Wednesday night for example I had 3 points after 10 holes and I'd had an air shot!!! 3 nights ago I shot a 4 over at my course and my putting had been very poor - everything just felt right and my swing was so nice and easy.

Please give me some answers/pearls of wisdom/anything forum readers... I'm at a very low ebb and seem to have been here - golf wise - for a long long time (apart from the odd couple of weeks out of 100)

Ive only read this post so forgive me if anyone else has covered this.

To me your problem is your mental state when it comes to the game, you consistently state your terrible yet your handicap continues to drop. Focus on the good things, the par saves, the good shots. You seem to really focus on any negative aspect that creeps in.

Your handicap reflects your best rounds, not what you should be shooting every week.

Your a single figure golfer, just think about the other 97% of golfers who cant achieve that.

 

[delc]

Ive only read this post so forgive me if anyone else has covered this.

To me your problem is your mental state when it comes to the game, you consistently state your terrible yet your handicap continues to drop. Focus on the good things, the par saves, the good shots. You seem to really focus on any negative aspect that creeps in.

Your handicap reflects your best rounds, not what you should be shooting every week.

Your a single figure golfer, just think about the other 97% of golfers who cant achieve that.

I would agree that your handicap is biased towards your best results, not your average or worst results. My average score in comps is 89 (18 over SSS) but my current handicap is 12, and has been as low as 10 in the not too distant past. The OP must have played enough good competition rounds to earn his single figure handicap.

BTW I have also had my battles with fits of the shanks. For me staying in balance and swinging through to a balanced finish when I can hold the pose seems to be the cure. Hope this helps?

 

[JV24601]

I am in a rush to get out the door, but did i just read you shoot in the 100s and think you should be a 5?

That does not compute on any level, when i was a 5, shooting in the 100s just simply COULD not happen, it is not possible to be THAT bad as a 5 handicap

Yes you read correctly.
I am 3.3 off a 5 handicap so I don't understand your bemusement.
The bemusement should be saved for my actual inconsistency and why it happens.

 

[JV24601]

Can I say thank you to all respondents.

The ones who are recommending some friendly golf and play relaxed on my own etc., this is a regular occurrence and I still can play terribly in those.

Delc and the people who have mentioned a swing flaw and lateral movement etc. are probably right.
Maybe I've got a flaw in my body and some days I'm tighter or have some muscular restrictions. I don't know.

Glad to hear others are similar to me too even though I wouldn't wish it on anyone. I'm just fed up of the whole thing as I go on lots of trips and some of them are great but I ruin them by playing like a hacker.

i just want some consistency and I'll be a happy man!

 

[Deleted member 15344]

Have you seen a pro at all ?

I'm not one who normally recommends lessons but maybe it's worth seeing one

Also maybe video your swing and upload it and there will be a number of people on here who could give you some pointers ?