I need to improve or give up (spoiler alert i don't want to give up!)

[Blackdog67]

I have been trying to get into golf off and on for several years. For many years it was just getting out for 9 holes after work with colleagues a few times a year and so i didn't really expect to improve. However in the last 6 months i have made an effort to spend more time trying to improve, I am currently going to the range once a week as i thought the more i practiced the better i'd get but if anything i'm getting worse! It has reached a stage now where i am so frustrated i feel i need to see some improvement or i will just give up on golf. I don't want to give up as i enjoy getting out with my friends but i was hoping to be showing some signs of improvement.

I have never been athletic and i wasn't particularly good at sports at school. I loved playing football (soccer) but i was never very good at it. I don't get much height on my iron shots and I am averaging 77 yards carry distance with my 9 iron and although i hit my driver better than my irons i am only getting around 110 yards of carry distance with it. Is it possible that i am just not suited to golf or is it possible for anyone to reach a reasonable standard, by reasonable i just mean getting to a point where i can break 100.

Any advice?

 

[bobmac]

You'll probably get bored hearing this but I'd think you might need a few pointers to help you improve.
Just bashing balls isn't going to do you much good if you don't know what to practice.

 

[phillarrow]

You'll probably get bored hearing this but I'd think you might need a few pointers to help you improve.
Just bashing balls isn't going to do you much good if you don't know what to practice.

This! Practice makes permanent, not perfect! Spend some time and money on a couple of lessons and then your practice time will be worth it. ?

 

[louise_a]

definitely recommend seeing a local pro/coach to sort out your swing

 

[timd77]

Golf is the worst sport in the world if you can’t play, awful, and even the best of us have days where we wonder why on earth we’re playing.

Looking at those yardages, I’d say the best thing you could do is to have a lesson, even a ‘get into golf’ group lesson to teach you the basics will help. You’ll have much more fun and improve naturally through enjoyment rather than trying to force it.

My best mate of 35+ years is trying to get into it after always saying it’s not for him. He goes down the range, tries to smash some balls, plays 9 holes, struggles around. I took him out a couple of months back and I didn’t know what advice to give him. He couldn’t get the ball off the ground, no distance, no consistent direction. I tried my best to tell him what I do but I’m not a golf pro and so I told him he needs to get a few lessons if he wants to improve. Harsh but true.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

 

[Lord Tyrion]

Pretty much what all of the others have said. You are currently ingraining a host of bad habits that are preventing you from getting better. See a pro, be amazed at the improvement.

 

[Springveldt]

Go get lessons. It's that simple really.

 

[fat80b]

Lessons is one approach, and the group lessons is a good option (probably the right one) - But to offer an alternative - I've found that with lessons, I change things and improve my ball striking but ultimately it always reverts to carp after a while and I never actually understood how to fix what was going wrong.

It's almost for me as lessons are a bit like dieting - it works for a while but if you don't understand how to change your diet for good, you are just going to get fat again.


So this year, I have really enjoyed sorting my swing out myself (I know , I'm a stubborn B) and in the last year have made huge huge strides with Youtube and videoing myself, and really understanding all the changes and what they do for me and my ball flight.

If you are anywhere near Cambridge, I'll play with you and offer an opinion.

p.s. I feel I'm a short hitter, but 77y for a 9 iron implies theres quite a lot to work on. There are probably a bunch of really simple improvements that could be made straight off.

 

[jim8flog]

If you go to a range regularly with a poor swing all you are doing is ingraining that poor swing.

Take time out and get a lesson or two at least.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Lessons. Get the basics right first. Find a pro you are happy to work with (this can be hit and miss) and talk through what you are looking to achieve. They'll teach you the fundamentals and you can them take that to the course which is where you play (not the range). Start improving and you can go back and see what you need to do (short game) to get even better

 

[Canary_Yellow]

First, 6 months is nothing. Golf is hard, don't beat yourself up because it hasn't come totally naturally.

Second, lessons are a good shout, gives you something specific to work at on the range. But don't just practice ball striking, if you can work on your short game, chipping and putting in particular. That should really help get your scores lower.

If I'm ever hitting the ball really badly for a period of time, I ask myself the next time I go to the range to practice, am I doing something differently that is going to be better? Or am I just doing the same thing over and over, and seeing the same results? Am I working on something in particular that will make me better, or am I just hitting balls?

If I'm at a loss, I get a lesson to re-focus me.

 

[Blackdog67]

Lessons is one approach, and the group lessons is a good option (probably the right one) - But to offer an alternative - I've found that with lessons, I change things and improve my ball striking but ultimately it always reverts to carp after a while and I never actually understood how to fix what was going wrong.

It's almost for me as lessons are a bit like dieting - it works for a while but if you don't understand how to change your diet for good, you are just going to get fat again.


So this year, I have really enjoyed sorting my swing out myself (I know , I'm a stubborn B) and in the last year have made huge huge strides with Youtube and videoing myself, and really understanding all the changes and what they do for me and my ball flight.

If you are anywhere near Cambridge, I'll play with you and offer an opinion.

p.s. I feel I'm a short hitter, but 77y for a 9 iron implies theres quite a lot to work on. There are probably a bunch of really simple improvements that could be made straight off.

Thanks for the advice and the offer of playing together. Unfortunately (for the purposes of meeting for a round) i am in Dorset.

 

[clubchamp98]

You say you like getting out with your friends.
Have they tried to give you advice?
What’s their standard of play?
Golfers come in all shapes and sizes.
So their methods might not suit you.
Go and see your local pro for a lesson , he will put you on a path to improve .
Then it’s up to you to practice what he tells you.
If you go this route don’t listen to anyone else just him.
Good luck and you will enjoy it soon.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

Without a lesson or two you might be able to work on things sufficient to improve a bit - and you might think that you are getting things 'grooved'.

However...my experience is that whilst I thought I had got things grooved without lessons, I had in fact simply become an excellent tightrope walker - despite my technical flaws. If I had a good technical foundation I might have been able to come out of a groove; it wouldn't hurt too much - and might usually have been fairly easy to get back into the groove. But I didn't - so when I fell off the tightrope the only way was down; it hurt - and getting back onto the tightrope was extremely difficult as I feared falling off. Sure enough. I could get back onto the tightrope and in time become stable - but sooner rather than later I'd fall off again.

Lessons. Don't need many. But you need to know what to practice. And you really don't want to become an excellent tightrope walker with a poor technical foundation.

 

[IanM]

Do something different.

If you are physically ok and under 70, breaking 100 is within most people's capability.

If your car is broken, you see a mechanic.

Find a golf pro who teaches in a way that suits your learning style. Dorset has plenty of them. Folk on here will recommend someone depending on which bit of Dorset you are.

 

[Red devil]

I played golf as a kid of 15,16 but leaving school I entered a profession that didn't give me the time to play it. Changed career some 17yrs ago and should have took it up again but didn't. Turned 60 last November, I know, I know thanks for the compliments and decided I was going to once and for all get back into it.
Look I'm realistic, I've left it too late to ever get into single figure handicap but hey. So I contacted a local pro for lessons because I could hit balls on a range until the cows come home but if you’re hitting it wrong,until someone tells you different you'll carry on hitting them wrong.
I wanted the fundamentals and that's what lessons give you and then you go away and practice. I've seen the difference they make and my advice is have some.
Accept golf for what it is you'll be fine one day the next,abysmal for no apparent reason. It's mystified better golfers than me and you so don't worry about that.
Good luck

 

[chrisd]

Have a couple of basic lessons, imo the necessary things are

Posture
Grip
Alignment
Ball position

Get those things nailed in then the swing of the club is easier to learn. I also think too many beginners think they have to swing at a million mph to hit a 7 iron 160 yards - no, a steady swing hit with the sweetspot is much more likely to do it, so start with a slow swing and build up the speed as the strike improves.

 

[Smiffy]

Looking at your yardages, I suggest you have about 3" taken out of your shafts.....

They'll fit in the dustbin easier

 

[rudebhoy]

Seeing a pro is a must, but make sure you find a good one. The standard varies enormously in my experience. Do your research, ask as many people as you can for recommendations.

 

[Slab]

Get some knowledge on the fundamentals from a lesson or online, so you at least know you’re practicing the right stuff

Do look up some of the tour pros online too as you can also learn a lot from them.
Garcia’s good for learning how to throw a strop properly, a quick google of Rory’s material will give you no end of excuses to use when it all goes wrong, Reed’s a gem for info on getting that ‘competitive edge’ to your game. Hatton’s your man for using the correct on course vocabulary. Kevin Na’s vids are good cos you don’t even have to slow them down & of course Poulter your man for tips on what to wear. When you get better look to DJ for that understated celebration or Olesen if you want to kick it up a notch

Remember its supposed to be fun