Golf's biggest problem

I don't know if young Mr Hopper would agree with me here but what problem do you think I am most asked for help with?

I'm asked about this from ALL standards of golfer btw.

Is it a cure for a slice? Hook? Shank? Bunkers?
And no, it's nothing to do with mars bars

The problem I am most asked about is..........

<u>CONSISTENCY </u>

Time and time again you read how someone has 16 brilliant holes and 2 shockers.
Do you wonder how you can play so well on Saturday and rubbish on Sunday?
Does anyone else feel this way and if so, how do you try and stop those bad ones that come from nowhere.
Even Golfstick was complaining about he needs to be more consistant with his game and hes off about 1?


Your thoughts would be appreciated. :)
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Agreed......... :)
 
I do think a lot of the stuff Rotella etc teach is helpful in this (although doesn't have to be glossied up in eight different examples for the same point) but has helped me to a degree.

I don't think I lack self belief and my concentration is getting better. I lack the consistancy of a repetitive swing but have taken action to sort that out via lessons. I'm not looking for a textbook swing but if I can reduce the lateral lift on the downswing to get a better impact position I think I'll settle for that. Short game psychosis though may take a very good counsellor or a summer with v-easy surgically attached
 
Im with Hapless' theory on this one...
Its all down to time and effort and because we are average joe's with with 40+ hours a week jobs with Kids and bills and normal everyday worries i think that its beyond most players to ever get the consistency that they crave for....And im including myself in that too...

Its like anything that a person applies themselves to....The more you work at something the better you get...

Just look at your club during the summer months when all those 9-15 year olds are off school and no matter what time your at the club there always there....
Now put yourself in there shoe's with that much time for practice....How good would you be?

Me......I'll just have to stick to my 4 hours of putting practice a week in the winter and 1 range session with 1 game at the weekend....

When the summer comes i MAY get to get a little more in......But ill never fail to strive to get better......At the moment im CONSISTENTLY good at being average :D :D :D
 
I'm with Golfmmad on this one. I have the game to play well below my handicap. My card reflects this. Problem is I don't really believe in every shot. I don't visualise it and, without self doubt, execute it. I think when I'm playing well I am on a hot streak rather than playing to my ability. I lose focus and concentration and get ahead of myself.
 
Concentration and self belief!

Golfmmad.
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I believe this sums it up pretty much.
A pretty good swing helps too. :)

Obviously, you have to have a swing that hits the ball roughly where you want it to go in the first place.
It doesnt have to be a thing of beauty either, as long as it works for you.
Then having the concentration on every shot to make your body swing the club the way you want it to and having the confidence to know that...
"If I swing like this, the ball will do that."

If you watch the greats down through the years, Nicklaus, Palmer, Norman, Woods etc, they all had that confidence, self belief and complete focus during the shot that made them hit the great shots time after time after time.

The tricky bit is getting the swing in the first place.
As has been mentioned before, how can you be consistent if you keep changing your swing.

Sure, take some lessons and practice as much as you can, but make it quality time. 25 balls with full concentration is better than 50 lashes at the driver.

So I'd say find a swing that you can be confident with to hit the ball where you want it to go and practice concentrating making that swing on every shot.

Good luck :)
 
Consistency is the result of effective preparation.

It seems to me though that mere consistency does not cut it. You need to be 'even more consistent' when it counts. Effective preparation can be conducted in cycles to surge performance and to increase the likelihood of peaks when it matters, in competition. No point in peaking for the off season.

 
I agree as above.

Does anyone else think that, unintentionally, the groups that we play in are partly to blame and make concentration more difficult??

Nearly every single one of us said that one of the main things we value in our golf is good company and the banter that brings.

For a handicap golfer that plays once or twice a week, it becomes very difficult to be able to switch on & off the concentration when it's our turn to play.

How many times have you been stood over the ball and still have a smirk on your face from the joke or story your playing partner has told you. Or were holding back a laugh after they had just topped one 10 yards into the pond and are now beating their bag Basil Fawlty style??
 
People need to understand that as Amateur golfers we are gonna hit bad shots, it's how we react mentally to those shots that defines the way we play. My pro said to me on my 1st lesson that he couldn't stop me hitting bad shots, just hopefully reduce the number and give me the ability to understand what causes them. We also need to understand that we are gonna have bad rounds. Pro's regularly have 5,6,7 or even 10 shot variations so why shouldn't we?

IMHO, you are never going to solve consistency to the level people want it. It's a game of such fine margins that the human body isn't capable of such precision continuously. If I can shoot 3 or 4 shots either side of my handicap every week then that is about as consistent as I will get. Every now and then I'll be really bad or really good, it happens. You should try to redefine peoples definition of consistent.

As for the messing up the last 2 holes after playing 16 well, that I think is a mental problem, it certainly is with me. It's how you deal with the pressure of posting a good score.

It's taken me several years to come to realise that I don't collapse at the end of a round because of a bad swing, it's because I get ahead of myself. It's taken me the same years to realise that a double bogey at the 1st isn't going to ruin my round.

As a golf coach, getting people to think right is as important as teaching them to hit a ball and in many cases, which is where I think I am at, it is more important.
 
bob ,
i think consistency comes threw good practise , which comes from a good coach that ur wiling to stick with for the long term rather than hop from coach to coach,how many pupils du get that only come for one lesson and don`t return cause there not willin to suffer set -backs before progressing,and go back to there old swing and wonder why they have no consistency. an old teacher at st.andrews once told me ` practise doesn`t make perfect ,practise makes permanent, work hard at the right things and the put in the hours at the range. a good work ethic creates consistency gcd
 
The one thing all good golfers who play consistantly well have is TIME. Time to practice the game, lets be honest the majority go from 16-18 year olds into American colleges like Monty,Gmac,Casey and play golf full time or become assistant pro's and live on the golf course. They do not have to get up at 6.30am drive to work, do 8/12 hours come home and help the kids with their homework, do the ironing,cooking,cleaning all the things 99% of us have to do to make a living.
I would love to commit more time to my hobby but I physically do not have time to devote to my game therefore I'm inconsistant and always will be. I live for my good rounds and accept the bad ones.
 
They do not have to get up at 6.30am drive to work, do 8/12 hours come home and help the kids with their homework, do the ironing,cooking,cleaning all the things 99% of us have to do to make a living.
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You've got a car? by gum, you're lucky.
I used to have to walk to school carrying all 8 kids on my back, then run to work. I used to arrive for work 10 minutes before I left the day before.............. :D
 
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