Searching for consistency

[Boabski]

As mentioned in another post i have not made any improvement on my h/p this year, there is a few issues i have in my head that may be contributing to this problem. Not playing regular because of the weather and joining a new club may be a excuse but consistency is the biggy.
One week i will go out and score well, thinking that i may have turned the corner taking my golf to the next level, The next week i will go back to the course try to emulate the previous and i play as if i have just picked up a club for the first time.
is anyone in the same boat or has anyone got advice?

 

[Herbie]

I am often in that boat Boabski, I am currently 9 h/c not so long ago 7 and a number of yrs earlier playing better than that but I have assumed the years and the MS have taken their toll on my game to some degree but the consistancy problem remains. I am probably as frustrated as you, Its a real pain to start a round feeling great only to realise that during the night some joker put your hands on back to front. Practice before a game can sometimes annoy me too, have you ever taken all your practice shots, even a few practice holes before a comp and thought....'Im up for this comp'? Then feeling good you go off the first tee and wonder who secretly drugged you

 

[toyboy54]

Boabski you have my complete sympathy and understanding!Been there,got the T-shirt etc,etc.I'm now in therapy with a hypnotist/shrink/man in white coat,,,,,,,If it works I'll give you their numbers!!God help us all for taking up this cruel mistress!!!!!!!!!!

 

[DCB]

Boabski,

Been there for the last three years. This year has seen significant progress. It takes time but it does make the game more enjoyable. I have been working hard on certain elements of my game after a series of lessons in the sproing. I think it is almost at the point where I know I can hit the ball they way I want to hit it. Irons are so much better than last year.

At present I'm 0.2 above the mark I started on in April this year, not too bad considering in March I didn't know where the ball was going at all! I've got a month or so of usefull season left so I'd like to get back below my starting point for the year. Still work to do, but one of my targets this year was to enjoy my golf more, in getting there I've stopped looking at my score all the time and have enjoyed playing better glf as a result.

last season I went up 1.4, season before that 1.2 so this year is very good by comparison.

Stick in and don't be too hard on yourself, it will come back. You going to Craigielaw in Oct? See you then if you are.

Dave

 

[RGuk]

Boabski.....

i.m.o. you are slap bang in the middle of nowhere's-ville off 9. I got there, had a child and found it so hard to keep it up, I quit.

As crazy as it sounds, I reckon you've got as much chance of going round in scratch as playing to 18, the thing that stops you playing to 18 is that no matter how bad (relatively) you play, you WILL make pars.

So to get more consistent you've got to make more pars (and birdies)....BUT, I always feel there is a MASSIVE difference between pars and bogeys. Players can make bogeys with virtually no good shots on a hole. Pars pretty much require all good shots or a crack short game. This is where the problem lies.

I feel that a player off 9 has a game which on the surface seems much better than 3 shots better than mine. I also feel the someone off 6 is either a short game genius or plays seemingly more than 3 shots a round better than a 9.

Interestingly, at mine, we have plenty of players off 1-8 and lots off 11-18, and not many in-between. It's not a surprise to me......once you can play to 9, you can play to much less (potentially) but you need either a lot of talent, a really solid swing, or the time to grind out the consistency.

Just my thoughts......even if they're a bit muddled.

 

[USER1999]

May be that is why I have plateaud on 12. There is a quantum leap from there to single digits.

 

[jeffc]

Hi Boabski

greatest sympathy know it well but I think this is the reality of golf. Are you losing out in any particular area as these would surely be the areas to concentrate. You say inconsistant but where driving,irons, putting?
Also on a bad day I always try to concentrate on what I am doing well and try to compensate for the bad things that way the off things seem to come right, of course there's always those days where everything is sh*te.

 

[USER1999]

If you were consistent, then the good rounds would be ok, and the bad rounds would be ok. Where's the fun in that.

If you are erratic, then you never know what you will get. It could be 66, or 96. That's the great thing about this game, and what keeps me coming back. The sheer excitement of not knowing how it will go today.

 

[cm_qs]

If you were consistent, then the good rounds would be ok, and the bad rounds would be ok. Where's the fun in that.

If you are erratic, then you never know what you will get. It could be 66, or 96. That's the great thing about this game, and what keeps me coming back. The sheer excitement of not knowing how it will go today.

I'm with murph on this one - I love the unpredictability of it all. I makes each round into an adventure (usually a Tarzan adventure in my case, the amount of time I spend in the Jungle! )

To paraphrase the Gump - "Golf is like a box of chocolates.... you never know what you gonna get!"

 

[Marko77]

What is this consistency we all strive for and how can we, as amateurs, be expected to produce it week in week out when professionals who practice for 5-10 hours a day can't even do it every week?

Padraig wins 2 Majors then misses cuts in the Fedex - where's the consistency there?

I believe consistency is a myth and as murph says its the unpredictability of it all that keeps us going - we never just know when that magical under par round will hit us....

dinnae beat yourself up about it, just keep swinging...

 

[RGuk]

There is a quantum leap from there to single digits.

I'm not so sure I'd agree it was a huge step, despite my post.

A lot depends on your individual game, the type of course you play and some other factors. If a 12 h'cap player is not so great at putting or hits some real nasties (not normally me) or has a poor short game, gaining 3 shots is not such a challenge with some improvement on these areas.

The problem I find with my game is that my main strength (being fairly straight) is going to require quite a long haul in work to find even better consistency......the rest is OK, if I felt one thing was really bad.....I'd fix that and probably come down 3 shots in a short time.

If I was to guess at what costs me now than compared to 11 years ago is probably as easy as....

1 or 2 double bogeys that should be "boring" single bogeys.
2, maybe 3 putts per round
1 or 2 more GIR.

If all that came together in one game, I reckon I'd play to 8 (like I did in the game against TonyN!) If I could hit it 10% further, I reckon 6 or 7 could be done. After that, I've had it.....