Consistency.

[LiamAustin]

Been playing golf for 2 years now, but only religiously playing for about a year after giving up other sports such as football and cricket.

Started with a handicap of 24 and 2 years later im down to 9, almost 8. Being only 17 I think thats quite respectable.

I'm at the stage now where i'm contesting with the better players finally. But I still struggle for consistency, theres always 2 or 3 freak bad swings, or 2 bad holes that keep me from shooting 2 or 3 over par. I make on average 1/2 birdies a round and from people that have played my course Hankley Common, a bad swing costs you dearly. The potential to be a very good golfer is there, because on the odd rounds where I don't have any catastrophic swings I can score well, with my lowest competition round being 73 and lowest bounce score being 69, both par 71.

I know that if I can cut the bad swings, not entirely but just to keep those few bad shots playable I could drop my scores by 5 shots at least!

Is there any key to developing consistency or is it just practise and more practise? my target for this year is 5, and with the amount of golf lined up I think it is achieveable.

I will upload a video of my swing later as I know there are a few decent analysists on here.

 

[pokerjoke]

Been playing golf for 2 years now, but only religiously playing for about a year after giving up other sports such as football and cricket.

Started with a handicap of 24 and 2 years later im down to 9, almost 8. Being only 17 I think thats quite respectable.

I'm at the stage now where i'm contesting with the better players finally. But I still struggle for consistency, theres always 2 or 3 freak bad swings, or 2 bad holes that keep me from shooting 2 or 3 over par. I make on average 1/2 birdies a round and from people that have played my course Hankley Common, a bad swing costs you dearly. The potential to be a very good golfer is there, because on the odd rounds where I don't have any catastrophic swings I can score well, with my lowest competition round being 73 and lowest bounce score being 69, both par 71.

I know that if I can cut the bad swings, not entirely but just to keep those few bad shots playable I could drop my scores by 5 shots at least!

Is there any key to developing consistency or is it just practise and more practise? my target for this year is 5, and with the amount of golf lined up I think it is achieveable.

I will upload a video of my swing later as I know there are a few decent analysists on here.

I can certainly relate to your dilema as it nearly sums me up as well,i can honestly say i believe its down to concentration,you may or may not have noticed during a round that your mind has wondered slightly maybe only for a few minutes here and there but enough to have cost you a couple of shots.I dont know if you talk or have a lot of banter as you walk to your golf ball for your next shot,if you do try distancing yourself away from your playing partners and get focussed again on your next shot,it might not be for you but its helping me.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Is it the same holes where the bad swings occur or later in the round? It might be that you become overly tense on certain holes that you find tricky and try and steer the ball safely into position. It could also be that you are getting tired towards the end of a round. Do you eat and drink enough as you go round as dehydration is a killer on concentration.

I've read a lot of Bob Rotella over the last few months and one of the things he has gone on about and its something I've always done, is to make sure you have a set pre-shot routine and that you stick to it. It acts as a mental trigger and really helps if you are in contention and teaches you to try and treat every shot the same regardless of its importance.

My routine involves putting on my glove as a trigger to start my, taking my practice swing and playing the shot. When I take my glove off its my trigger that the "swing" is complete and to try and switch my concentration off (look at he scenery, sing a tune etc) until I next put it on and start again.

If you look at most good players, they do the same thing on every shot and if you time them, you'll find that in most cases their pre-shot routines will be the same almost to the second. it is how theyget ready for the shot and focussed. If they do hit a bad shot they accept its poor technique and move on and try and recover. Don't fret on the bad shots. Every player will have them and its how you deal with them that will really make your score.

 

[Smiffy]

Don't fret on the bad shots. Every player will have them.....

Getting better....

Still gutted I threw it away. How do you take the positives away when you hit a bad tee shot (lost ball) and hit two woeful shots with just 8 iron and wedge in hand.

Oooops

 

[sev112]

Excellent progress in such a short time -well done

If it's just 2 or 3 "bad swings" that are costing you 6 to 8 shots, tehn it ain;t teh bad swings that are your problem,it's probably what you choose to do immediately after your bad swing.

Chip back onto the fairway and it will be only 1 shot at most that you lose for each bad swing - not 2 or 3.

Alternatively try a round without hitting your driver - take a 5 wood off the tee instead and see what you end up with - you might find that your bad swings wont go so far into teh deep trouble.

All of the pros i would suggest have more than 2 or 3 bad swings per round - this is a gurantee at even teh highest levels of golf. Concentrate therefore on managing the situation when you do end up in trouble off the tee.

 

[Robobum]

Liam - firstly, I hate you!! Getting to play that golf course every day......you lucky b******!!!

73 round Hankley, especially if it's off the purples, is a very respectable score so I wouldn't be pushing any panic buttons just yet.

At 17 you've still got some growing and strengthening to do. Just keep doing what you are doing if i was you............oh and once again - lucky b******!!!

 

[pokerjoke]

Don't fret on the bad shots. Every player will have them.....

Getting better....

Still gutted I threw it away. How do you take the positives away when you hit a bad tee shot (lost ball) and hit two woeful shots with just 8 iron and wedge in hand.

Once again Smiffy sharp as a tack Lol[i call this contradicting oneself],

Oooops

 

[LiamAustin]

I actually tend to have a pre-shot routine, and do stick to it which has helped my game considerably.

thats the thing, the bad shots aren't playable. they normally result in a lost ball or unplayable in foot high heather which is extremely hard to even get back on the fairway. They result in double bogeys.

Another weird thing is that the bad shot can be anything, a duck hook, high slice, shank (oddly only with longer irons)

I forgot to say I haven't had any lessons, as im still trying to find a pro who will work with my swing, and not try and not get caught up on everything technical which I have been told to do time and time again. People have said with a few tweaks I do have the potential to be a very good player.

Thanks Robodrum! good luck in the open next week if you want members tips on all the holes send me a pm i'd be happy to help!

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Have a chat with some local pros. If they are any good most will be able to work with what you've got, particularly if it has got you down so quickly. Lessons are a two way thing so unless you go to the pro with definite ideas about what you do and don't want its hard for him to make changes and find something to suit.

I have my pro I've used for four years now and he keeps things fairly simple and we work on more of a feel rather than technically correct positions. I have been using another guy this year (my normal guy was having reconstructive knee surgery) and he is a lot more technical in his approach. Both have helped a lot but I find that if I hve a feeling to work on I retain the info for longer.

Interestingly I have used the club pro where my wife works twice now (needed a fix for the shank and the other two were fully booked at short notice) and he is a video and analyse then go back and make the change, film it again type of guy and I've made some quick progress using him. Again not overly technical and he's certainly not looked to change the overall swing (even with my funny lifting up motion on the downswing).

It's about communication and then trust. Why not PM Bob and see what he says. he does it day in, day out and so will give you some better pointers.

 

[Region3]

I actually tend to have a pre-shot routine, and do stick to it which has helped my game considerably.

thats the thing, the bad shots aren't playable. they normally result in a lost ball or unplayable in foot high heather which is extremely hard to even get back on the fairway. They result in double bogeys.

Another weird thing is that the bad shot can be anything, a duck hook, high slice, shank (oddly only with longer irons)

I forgot to say I haven't had any lessons, as im still trying to find a pro who will work with my swing, and not try and not get caught up on everything technical which I have been told to do time and time again. People have said with a few tweaks I do have the potential to be a very good player.

Thanks Robodrum! good luck in the open next week if you want members tips on all the holes send me a pm i'd be happy to help!

You sure it's not your eyes that are the problem?

 

[RGDave]

Hi Liam. Long time no hear, chap.

I read an interesting article the other day about learning skills and time taken to acquire proficiency in certain sports. It argued that it takes 3-4 years to reach 90% of your "destination" standard for most sports. This had me fuming at the ears because it's rubbish science analysed without accompanying information.

3 possible scenarios

1) someone takes up a game, has frequent lessons and practises. OK - this person probably has reached 90%
2) someone takes up a game, has no tuition, rarely practises. - this person probably hasn't even scratched the surface
3) most of us are in between I would guess.

so i.m.o. you are still at least a year away from reaching 90% of your potential.

I play with a lot of good players. Some of them NEVER get into trouble and some of them do, every game. We have a chap off 6 (maybe 7) who I've seen play 1 or 2 over gross. He's not young and has been taking his golf seriously for 3 or 4 years now. We have another (I'm choosing these two as they often pair up) who is off 3 and I've seen play 1 UNDER gross. He's been a serious amateur for 15 years.

What I notice is they are chalk and cheese around the course. One hardly ever cocks up, the other almost every game. I put it down to 2 things;

1) experience and 2) course management.
Both drive a long way, both are great around the greens, both can putt well. They are equally matched UNTIL the higher h'cap player makes a mistake and then it costs him big time.

The way I see it, you have two things on your side.
Time + experience/course management.

Either way, you're going to get really good and will learn to iron out the odd bad shot I'm sure.

Good luck.

 

[KeefG]

All I can say is: if it was easy to be consistent we'd all be playing off scratch by now!

You get out of golf what you put in!!