Considering giving up playing after the summer..........

[haplesshacker]

Okay so it's a bit of a 'tabloid' heading. But the thing I am thinking of doing is not to play a round of golf for 5 or 6 months this winter and just spend the money on lessons.

Is this a good idea? Has anybody else tried such drastic mearures? Or are they drastic? Did it help, or will it help? I am not going to let this be the only 'bat'n'ball' game that I cannot play.

 

[HTL]

I tried to learn by doing this. I just went down the range for about two months in preparation for a big round against an old uni mate. It went proper tits up, I was bricking it when I finally got on the course.

Dont do it mate, get out and practise on the course, dont go out and try and shoot your best ever round, just go out and have some fun and try new shots etc.

 

[TonyN]

There is no substitute for being out on the course. You will just learn to play at the range and when you get back out, you'll be worse!

 

[brendy]

HH,
Ive never done this myself, but one of these days im going to go round the course with a 6,7,8,9 and sw, no woods, long irons nor special wedges. It can only be good to use the same irons more often and in so learning how to hit them.
There are a few holes at my course where I really do need to learn how to play them properly, this past weekend I decided to use a 4 iron off the tee at a hole which always catches me out with a driver/wood. I scored par, I decided not to use a long iron on a similar hole and hit driver, scored a double bogey. The moral of my story is that you only get frustrated by the game when you dont listen to the course. If all you can hear is driver, then you will fail. Watch the pro's, driver is only used on the wider longer holes where distance is a massive consideration.
If your weakness is long irons, then this, I reckon, will do you the power of good.
If your problem is chipping or putting, you will find that because you are approaching the greens from more fairways than normal, you will be left with more makeable putts as your distance control will be better off the short stuff.
Dont give in to the cowardly way out, similar to someone with the shanks, giving up for a month or 6 will still not cure the problem, getting out there and working through it, will.

 

[haplesshacker]

I wasn't going to 'give up' the golf just simply have an intensive training period, lessons, range and perhaps the odd par 3 course for the duration of the winter.

My 'skill' (and I use that word loosely) level has definately flat lined, and I need to improve. I've seen it work in other sports, so why not this one?

 

[RGuk]

If you don't play, you'll get worse, even if your swing is better! You need to keep up your "skill" of getting round. Nothing can replace the build-up of experience, keeping your eye in, short game in good nick, feeling/learning from the putter etc.
If you are serious, do what I have done on many occasions. Have the lessons then do more practice than playing.

 

[theeaglehunter]

to be honest whilst you would most probably improve through doing this I think it is pretty silly. You play golf because it's fun and a great game, right? Therefore getting the best score is not always ultra important as long as you get out and play the game and have fun and the game is on the course not on the range. Surely golf is a hobby and not something you feel you have to get better at, you are not a professional and therefore just enjoy playing your golf on the course how it is supposed to and don't get hung up on improving to the extent that you will give up playing the actual game and only visit the range. Whilst it is helpful to use the range and a great practice tool that I do enjoy just because it involves playing golf shots- this is not golf and the reason I play the game is so that I can walk around the course enjoy myself and try and persuade the little white ball to give dropping below the ground some consideration. I do think this approach would be drastic but you have to ask yourself why you play the game, I find a lot of golfers, and I used to be to a degree, that get so hung up on becoming better they take extreme measure like you described and end up getting so frustrated they give up because it is no longer fun. And anyway playing on the course is where you will really improve- on the range I am a great golfer but that's nothing to be proud of- I need to get more course practice in so I can play just as well as I do on the range.

 

[billyg]

to be honest whilst you would most probably improve through doing this I think it is pretty silly. You play golf because it's fun and a great game, right? Therefore getting the best score is not always ultra important as long as you get out and play the game and have fun and the game is on the course not on the range. Surely golf is a hobby and not something you feel you have to get better at, you are not a professional and therefore just enjoy playing your golf on the course how it is supposed to and don't get hung up on improving to the extent that you will give up playing the actual game and only visit the range. Whilst it is helpful to use the range and a great practice tool that I do enjoy just because it involves playing golf shots- this is not golf and the reason I play the game is so that I can walk around the course enjoy myself and try and persuade the little white ball to give dropping below the ground some consideration. I do think this approach would be drastic but you have to ask yourself why you play the game, I find a lot of golfers, and I used to be to a degree, that get so hung up on becoming better they take extreme measure like you described and end up getting so frustrated they give up because it is no longer fun. And anyway playing on the course is where you will really improve- on the range I am a great golfer but that's nothing to be proud of- I need to get more course practice in so I can play just as well as I do on the range.

Couldn't have put it better. Agree 100%.

It's about fun above all else. Remember how good it feels to make a clean connection between club and ball?
To swing a club freely?
Walking the fairways?
tapping a little ball across the most wonderfully manicured grass you can't hope to reproduce at home?
The sheer leisure of time spent the way you choose to?

Just go back and find the fun, forget the scores and enjoy what remains of the summer on a nice course.

Buy some cheap balls from Sportsworld and swing with passion.

Life is quite simply too short to get hung up on a number.

The 'process' of golf is reward enough and if you're not reaping the rewards at that level then it's time to look back to why you started indulging in it in the first place.

If I had a blank canvas and could design the game of my dreams i'd like to think I would have the intelligence to come up with something like golf. No chance.......

A game that is both physical and cerebral in equal measure

A game that is fair but firm

A game that tantalises with the highest highs and the lowest lows

A game of precision in proportion to temperament

A game that unfolds in the beauty and expanse of nature (in all it's forms)

A game never quantified yet understood intuitively

Golf IS that game.

Swing the club, hit the ball, enjoy the moment as it passes. Do it again.

That's all that really matters isn't it?

BillyG

 

[thecraw]

Its an interesting theory my friend, however you will still want that wee bit of banter and that challenge of the course once in a while to measure your progress from the practice.

I also find that a prolonged absense from the course in favour of practice can effect your ability to "score". You may hit is superbly but not score as well if that makes sense.

Find a balance that suits you and still enjoy those crisp winter mornings in glorious sunshine with your mates on the course. Hit the range at nights or during the gales and downpores that we always get too much of.

 

[Imurg]

I had a prolonged break from the game only playing once or twice a year for about 5 years. Then I came back to playing and got back to my normal standard of play. Another 6 month gap of only range work due to work and family and I was hitting the ball ok.
Got onto the course and it was like I'd never been there before. It was hard to line up shots as there was no range mat to help, the short game went to pieces (and its still there!!) and as for the putting - well lets just not go there. In short, I'd rather have 4 or 5 holes on the course than an hour beating balls. You get to keep the feel. Having lessons can never be a bad idea. Having said that I've only ever had 1 30 minute freebie with the pro when I joined the club 15 years ago and I got down to 8 on my own. Not saying they don't work but I don't feel they would help me much.
Although with the state of my alround game at the mo maybe........

 

[haplesshacker]

Well guys, it's been interesting reading your replies, many thanks.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy being out there, the fresh air, the occasional really good hit, the camarderie(sp), etc. But one thing that differs golf from my sporting passion for the last 30 years (sailboat racing), is that in yachting I only have to be good enough to beat everyone else on the race track, which I could do in most circumstances at the level that I was at. With golf, I am only playing against myself and the course, the other players don't matter one jot to me as far as beating them is concerned. This is my reason and drive to do better.

It's not that I've forgotton the reasons for playing golf, it's just that I want to do better.

I now don't look at a par 4 as a par 4, but instead look at it as a par 5 or 6 depending on the stroke index. That's certainly helped regarding the presure that I put on myself.

This 100 gross is a real 'barrier' that I want to break, I know that once that is done, 95 and then 90 will be next, as I 'll never be satisfied with just the one target. I know my limitations and that I'll probably never get down to single figures. But I don't think that wanting to be better at something is a bad thing. It's just that looking at you guys advice, I might be going about it the wrong way.

Once again thanks for your comments.

 

[StuartD]

I would be tempted to things like you Hapless. The winter is the time to make major changes and get most of your lessons in and the only way to ingrain what you have been told is on the range. I find the range can get a bit boring and this would be the time I would venture out to the course (or par 3 one as you state). Not sure how your course is setup over the winter but playing to keep your feel for your short game and putter is pretty pointless on ours with mats and winter greens.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Enjoy what passes for an English summer out on the course with the sun on your back and get as much golf in as you can irrespective of form and scores.

When it get to the end of September sit down and decide what you really want to achieve in golf and then plan a winter campaign from there.

My advice would be to book regular (every 3-4 weeks) to cure the swing flaws that are obviously holding you back and once they have been diagnosed and sorted speak to your pro about specific areas like chipping and putting.

Get out onto the course as much as you can in Winter as it is a different game and requires different skills and is a chance to put your new swing into practice and groove it in a competitive arena before next years major events. I concur with everyone else on here that say a winter spent on the range alone is a wasted winter and that your game will ultimately suffer when you come out of hibernation next spring

 

[viscount17]

It's about fun above all else. Remember how good it feels to make a clean connection between club and ball?
To swing a club freely?
Walking the fairways?
tapping a little ball across the most wonderfully manicured grass you can't hope to reproduce at home?
The sheer leisure of time spent the way you choose to?

Just go back and find the fun, forget the scores and enjoy what remains of the summer on a nice course.

Buy some cheap balls from Sportsworld and swing with passion.

Life is quite simply too short to get hung up on a number.

The 'process' of golf is reward enough and if you're not reaping the rewards at that level then it's time to look back to why you started indulging in it in the first place.

If I had a blank canvas and could design the game of my dreams i'd like to think I would have the intelligence to come up with something like golf. No chance.......

A game that is both physical and cerebral in equal measure

A game that is fair but firm

A game that tantalises with the highest highs and the lowest lows

A game of precision in proportion to temperament

A game that unfolds in the beauty and expanse of nature (in all it's forms)

A game never quantified yet understood intuitively

Golf IS that game.

Swing the club, hit the ball, enjoy the moment as it passes. Do it again.

That's all that really matters isn't it?

BillyG

damn right, billy. that's worthy of an ad break quote on setanta

 

[blindpete]

Graham, That is what I did last winter and since I got back onto the course I am regularly shooting mid 80's to low 90's as opposed to the 100+ last year. It's horses for courses, but it worked for me. So, IMHO, it's gotta be worth giving it a go.

Pete

 

[backwoodsman]

Happless: just read your post after putting out one of my own. Only thing I can say is that I've spent a shed-load of money on lessons and the range - where I can hit them almost as well as I desire. But its not happening on the courses.

Brendy's suggestion was interesting as it was pretty much what I've decided to do today. (Did think about taking just the 6 iron and PW - but a 6 might not reach some fairways. So I'm taking nothing bigger than a 5i).

I think if you can practice on a course, then do. I just need a course I can practice on.