Is it worth trying to get better ?

[daftscotsman]

A few years back at Braid Hills Golf Club in Edinburgh, a 'stranger' with whom I ended up playing 18 holes with said to me "You never start to enjoy golf, until you realise that you are [****]!"

I never have forgot those words and how true they are!!

Spread the word....

 

[centuryg5]

I am totally committed to becoming better,90% of my practice time is spent on the beach,learning to play into,across, and, with the wind,trying to master the punch,draw,fade,and even very occasionally a straight 'un.and its free,good thing is, the tide comes in and washes the sand back in pristene condition,no damage I don't care if i can't smash it 270 yds,have enough clubs in the bag to try and get my par.

 

[Macster]

If you arent a club member, improving may be harder, I dunno.....

I cant imagine not being able to go and do 6/9 holes to work on something, and shelling out £25/£35 a time to play would seem worse than than paying my Club Subs in one go !!

Oh, and wooosie may be an anomoly, but generally speaking, tall can generate big distance easier than short ......from what I've seen over the years...

 

[golf_bug]

Monty has made a very lucrative career out of hitting a fade, so don't let people tell you that you should be hitting a draw!

As long as you set up properly (left hand side of the tee box, aim down the left of teh fairway), there is no reason (other than financial) that you shouldn't be out there enjoying this wonderful (stupid) game.

 

[CrapHacker]

A few years back at Braid Hills Golf Club in Edinburgh, a 'stranger' with whom I ended up playing 18 holes with said to me "You never start to enjoy golf, until you realise that you are [****]!"

I never have forgot those words and how true they are!!

Spread the word....

I agree that the worse I know I am, the more I enjoy it, and the less frustrated I get at the bad shots.

I didn't just draw my name out of a hat, you know.

But if you stand still for too long you have to be comfortable that you've reached your peak, or you will surely start feeling the frustration of not trying.

Not saying I want to be a pro ( Borrox, of course I want to be a pro goldarnit ), and I'm not a club chucker, but an occaissional feeling of 'StupidbloodygameI'mgivingupforgoodthistime'itis has to be good for everyone, doesn't it.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

There have been lots of faders of the ball (Monty prhaps the most famous) and if that is going to be your stock shot and is repeatable I'd go with it. Yes you'll lose yards off the tee and yes some of the longer par 4's and may 5's will be out of reach. My advice would be rather than bashing balls at the range all of the time, split your time 60-40 in favour of putting and the short game.

If you can get a decent short game it will take a lot of pressure off the rest of the game and will allow you to still score well. We have a couple of guys (mid 50's) who fade the ball and play off about 18. No one wants to play them in matches. They rarely miss a fairway, knock one down to around 100 yards, pop it on and 2 putt. Do that on shot holes and you are having to make par for the half. When they do miss a green they often chip and putt.

It may be worth trying to find a pro to give you a reasonably priced 30, 45 or 60 minute lesson just to get your basics checked but I'd go with what you have

 

[KeefG]

As long as you set up properly (left hand side of the tee box, aim down the left of teh fairway)

Surely you mean right side of the tee box?

I always set up for a slight fade and always go to the right side of the tee box as this gives a much better angle to aim down the left side for the fade to come back towards the middle.

 

[Herbie]

Craphacker, I dont see why you cant get help to straighten your shot or even create a draw, it depends on what you feel like doing , what your body is capable of. Its worth seeing a Pro if you can afford it because it just might be something really minute needs altering.

Ive been focussing on Driving over the last 2 wks and hopefully I have hit on something as Im hitting straighter or even with a draw where my regular game used to be a gentle fade and Im 51 this year so dont give up hope.

 

[RGDave]

This is my kind of post. I'll try to be brief....

When I started I was terrible (98 (?) on a 9-hole) and couldn't ever hit a good shot. I had a few basics lessons, bought some modern clubs and a book or two. Joined a club, handed in three cards (around 97) and got a h'cap of 24.
I LOVED playing and couldn't get enough of trying to fluke pars and avoid massive blow-outs, it was such fun.

I didn't get anywhere near winning anything and felt a bit embarrassed about my game. Short off the tee, tendency to slice, thin/fat shots, too many 3 putts, no idea out of sand, the normal story.

So I went for a "proper" lesson with a reputable coach and he identified a major issue with my swing. He gave me a drill which I worked hard on a 2 months and then the scores started to tumble. I loved it, and won some small vouchers for balls/gloves in my pro shop. I went from being a weak slicer to a medium drawer. Got down to 19, then chipped away at it until about 15. It was then I realised I had to sort out my short game. Got down to 12-ish and felt good....

I then tried to refine my swing in an attempt to get into single figures. My pro always said that IF I could improve my swing (not just tweak "what I have") I would hit it further and score better. He was right, I got straighter, hardly ever hit a really costly bad shot (I did hit some bad ones!!) and crept down to about 9.

I was struggling though with long holes (around 220 off the tee, 200 with a 3 wood of the deck) and not enjoying it much. We tried to get some power/distance into my swing and for a while, I was starting to steal some pars on the tough holes. Got down to 8.4 for a few weeks. Then my pro left and I went to a new guy. He liked my consistency but thought I needed to get a more powerful swing. But he didn't have any drills that I could get on with. On long courses I was shooting 75-80s, on shorter courses nearer 74-76. I didn't enjoy it much, so in the end (and due to family) I quit.

- - - - -

For me, it's about how much you enjoy the game. I wasn't going to get to 6 or something without some serious and difficult work. Getting from 19-10 had been easy-ish and fun. I should have just stuck around 12 and been happy.

The direction/shape we hit the ball is not that important to get a good game. Hitting the ball sweetly and accepting either 200 or 250 yard drives is down to talent/luck/lessons etc.

If you don't want to go down the lessons route (for money reasons or whatever) do the best with what you have and if you start putting in extra work and getting no-where or not enjoying it, then think about whether all the aggro is worthwhile.

If you want to fix your "shot" or improve distance, invest in a few lessons, see how it goes.

- - - - -

Good Luck. PM me anytime....

 

[JustOne]

Great post RG.

 

[CrapHacker]

Cheers lads

I think I'll scrape together enough for just the one lesson, and see if there are any simple drills that will help.

And then I'll work with what I've got for a couple of months and see how it stands up for a few rounds.

As has been mentioned. A bad day on the course is better than most days off it. I don't think that I'm going to be playing too much and get fed up with any kind of improvement for the foreseeable future.

I've got to get myself to some kind of handicap level first before I start worrying about perfection

 

[RGDave]

Great post RG.

Thanks....I know it was a bit of a boring autobiography, but enjoying the game is what it's about.

It IS worth trying to get better, but only if *we/I* can be able to accept our limitations and manage to enjoy playing at whatever level. If I could wind the clock back, I'd probably not have tried with the last "portion" of trying to get from 11-ish to under 9.5.

BUT, Golf is addictive and when you can really see the possibility of hitting every ball quite well and scoring more pars than bogeys, it takes on an edge where being ambitious about your game can spoil enjoyment. i.m.o.

 

[golf_bug]

As long as you set up properly (left hand side of the tee box, aim down the left of teh fairway)

Surely you mean right side of the tee box?

I always set up for a slight fade and always go to the right side of the tee box as this gives a much better angle to aim down the left side for the fade to come back towards the middle.

Keef
No i mean set up on the left. If you fade, set up left and aim down the left. You hen have the whole fairway at your disposal. If you set up on the right but overdo the fade (slice), or aim left and catch one straight, you maybe in trouble. Obviously if you are on the left of the tee box and hook one you may end up in the sh1t, but its all about playing percentages.
For someone hitting a draw its the opposite - set up on the right and aim down the right.
I did see a good Jack Nicklaus vid on Youtube on this once but just had a look for it and can't find it. Let me know if you are interested and I will go hunting for it.

 

[Herbie]

I think RGDaves long post is a great one, I can relate to a number of popints made.

 

[Jamie_N]

by the way, If you are struggling with a fade or slice, try an exercise I saw in my copy of golf monthly last month. Swing a baseball bat, or cricket or random plank of wood at roughly waist height. This full swing movement is what you golf swing should be like. Simply transfer this wide swing to your golf swing and you should see an improvement.
Probably to a hook at first, but with practise you might find that this helps! Just another idea to throw into the mix!

 

[viscount17]

craphacker, I'll endorse what imurg has said.

I was worried about playing in the England-Scotland match off 24.5 but was encouraged to do so by a lot of the guys on here. OK, I may have provided Andy with the comedy shot of the year but I'm glad I went and I will do so again.