After getting all the boys out of the house My wife and I decided to take up golf together. So last year we joined Kingwood CC, got some lessons and started hitting the range once or twice a week. Finally screwed up the courage to play some rounds last October. Played a few rounds/month plus lots of range time. From October to April I was consistently awful - 120+ every round.

Took more lessons and got a fitting through the club to replace the 20+ year old DCi's. The feeling was like night and day (unsurprisingly). That was late April.

My history is that my dad was a single digit HCP that would take us to the range when we were young just to hit. Played 1 or 2 scrambles/year through work. Teaching pro says I have a nice swing with correctable problems and that my goal of low 90's was plenty attainable. But when?

Since June 1 I've played 6 rounds. 2 at 9 holes and the rest 18. Scored in order 52, 53, 116, 123, 103 and a 115 yesterday. The 115 felt like a 150 so the score surprised me.

My putting is pretty good - more 2 putts than 3 putts and chipping is probably better than I would expect. My driver is wildly inconsistent - 190 - 220 yards when it's "good" but at least half the time I top it and get about 60 yards of distance. Not a lot of fairways hit but not many lost balls either.

Irons are ciminally inconsistent and it's driving me crazy. 5 iron could go 175 or 25. 9 iron can go 125 carry or 80. Wedges seem to be reasonably predictable but who knows if that will cange tomorrow.

And it feels like the more I play the more inconsistent I get. Frustrating sport is putting it lightly.

So what say you? How long (at this pace) before I'm consistently under 100? Shooting low 90's? Pipe dream and just go play pickleball with the retirees?

The penalty stroke concept has been driving my frustrations the last 6 weeks. I've seriously considered putting the driver away and teeing up an iron. But that won't improve the driver...

A competitive nature seems to be a part time impediment. It's hard to ignore scores when that metric is os obvious.

I think my practice time needs to include more driver if I'm being honest. Every online "coach" wants to tell you to concentrate on short game. That's fine but not when it takes you 4 stokes to get to the apron!


Practice, practice, practice. I guess I just want to feel like I'm getting better

Hit the range 3 times a week - that should lead to more consistency, especially with your irons. And work on your driver. If you're that bad with it, you either need to work a lot on it or look into a different driver (maybe both). Also, 3-putting adds up quickly. Put time in on the putting green.

Ol army 92 said:

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The penalty stroke concept has been driving my frustrations the last 6 weeks. I've seriously considered putting the driver away and teeing up an iron. But that won't improve the driver...

A competitive nature seems to be a part time impediment. It's hard to ignore scores when that metric is os obvious.

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This would be a mistake. Short hitters don't really get in that much trouble. Modern driver is the easiest club in the bag to hit. Work on that to keep it 180-200 in play. Then work hybrid or 7 wood to progress the ball as previously noted. Chipping last - stick with Texas wedge and maybe work hybrid putt chip a bit … both much more conservative. You won't get as close as chipping but your misses won't be nearly as bad. 90s in play soon!!

Glad to hear my gut feeling wasn't far off.

Range time needs to increase from once a week plus 30/45 warm up to multiple days/week. Range time is "free" and 10 minutes away. Just gotta get up and go.

You need to practice with a purpose. Do this routine 3x a week and you'll break 90 in three months. You are the perfect candidate for this routine.

1. You've already got the lessons to get you on a decent track
2. You have decent clubs.
3. You just need a practice routine that will really improve your ability to play well on the course.

https://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/93/golf/ultimate-practice-routine-992787/

khaos288 said:

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Get a net and mat for the garage. Get a tripod. Work on specific things one at a time, and use video to gather feedback/data. Swing every day.

With the above, you can get a cheapie launch monitor too. That helps with feedback/data.

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this helps me the most as well. Also leads to my wife telling me to stop staring at my swing on my phone. If driving range is that easy to get to get a tripod for the range. Focus on getting that driver swing improved.

You also have to realize golf isn't linear. There is MASSIVE volatility within rounds and between rounds. I can't remember who, but at the masters one guy shot like a 90 in round 1 and then a 70 in round 2 (numbers are big generalization because my memory sucks).

I got a lot better when I was going to the range 2 x week hitting ~ 100 balls each time and trying to work on specific things (which is hard when it's matts only so often around here). I was also playing in a 9-hole league each week and usually paying 18 on the weekends.

I took a bunch of lessons, with video feedback emailed to me. I even set up my phone on 'slow mo video' when I'd go to the range and watch the good/bad shots. From my lessons, I learned my biggest problem was moving my hips back and forth causing me to hit fat. Once I got that big issue sorted, I went from over 100 to breaking 90 for the first time in my life (played off and on since HS) in 4-months.

That was obviously not my only issue, but it was the biggest thing holding back my scoring. Even then, there were times I'd be +1 after 7 holes, then +10 after 10 holes...all my extra strokes would come on 3-4 holes otherwise I was par/bogey with a few birdie's thrown in.

Another thing, don't keep score. Just focus on what you are doing right that day when you play. If it's Iron's, Driver, chipping, whatever, focus on the good and not the bad. Yes, you'll mentally still keep score, but stop writing it down.

About 3-years ago I cut my practice and play down significantly and my handicap jumped from 12 to 20 in about a year. I'm just not consistent enough now days and I get in trouble and things just spiral and it takes me 3 holes to recover + I don't practice enough.

Last night, I went to the range b/c I hadn't hit in a long time and for the first 75 balls I could not hit a single iron in the bag...I was shanking (which I hardly ever do), topping, fat, hook, you name it, I did it with every Iron I tried. Then I video's myself and saw I was hitting of my back foot...so focus on getting the weight transfer and suddenly every thing was great...

I'll repeat when my instructor used to tell me. "Golf always wins!"

Ol army 92 said:

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I think my practice time needs to include more driver if I'm being honest. Every online "coach" wants to tell you to concentrate on short game. That's fine but not when it takes you 4 stokes to get to the apron!


Practice, practice, practice. I guess I just want to feel like I'm getting better

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I don't know if this will help for you, but my horrible shots reduced dramatically when I started pausing at the top of my backswing.

Either you can play or you can't. No shame in sucking, just suck fast.

How many swing thoughts do you have going through your head right before you hit it? If it is more than 1, that is a major problem.

Other thing that helped me was really making sure I keep my head down by seeing the color of the tee on my drives and the grass under the ball on iron shots.

DGrimesAg92 said:

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Either you can play or you can't. No shame in sucking, just suck fast.

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That may be true but it does feel a little harsh. I guess that's the question - After 8 months, starting from almost nothing, does the fact that I am shooting low hundreds mean I will always suck? It certainly feels like it but the teaching pro seems to thnk I have low 90's capability.

Patience never has been a virtue for me

That actually was an issue early on. I've tried to concentrate lately on keeping the left arm ram rod straight in my back swing. Bending the elbow really cut off rotation in my torso and took away distance (among other things).

Now with my driver I'm trying to be very conscious about lining up my shot with an object in my line of sight at address and aiming for that. A blade of grass, leaf anything like that 2-3 feet in front of the ball.

When I do start letting the brain pinball I inevitably end up chunking 3 inches behind the ball. It's like clockwork

I hover around a 13-14 handicap. I would like to say what got me there was perfecting the parts of the game I struggled with the most and a lot of practice, but that would be a lie. What really got me there was two things (1) learning how to get out of trouble safely and effectively so you don't compound mistakes (2) chipping/putting.

It is still a battle of pride/ego on the first point, and I sometimes stray from that ideoology, but my best rounds tend to be the ones where my best shots are made from the rough/sand/etc.

Ol army 92 said:

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DGrimesAg92 said:

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Either you can play or you can't. No shame in sucking, just suck fast.

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That may be true but it does feel a little harsh. I guess that's the question - After 8 months, starting from almost nothing, does the fact that I am shooting low hundreds mean I will always suck? It certainly feels like it but the teaching pro seems to thnk I have low 90's capability.

Patience never has been a virtue for me

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I disagree and believe everyone can improve. It's relative, of course. Not everyone has the time or natural ability to get down in the singles, so if the definition of "not sucking" is to play level par, then so be it. That's not my definition, though. Here are some statistics on the "average" male golfer over 40 (according to the USGA, Trackman, and Arccos anyway):

General Stats:
Handicap: 14.5-18
Score: 88-95
7-Iron: 135-150
Fairways: 45-50%
GIR: 4-6 per round
Putts per Round: 34-36

Driver Stats:
Driver Distance: 210-225
Clubhead Speed: 93-95
Ball Speed: 135-140
Launch: 13-16 deg
Spin Rate: 2800-3200
Smash Factor: 1.45

None of those are great by any stretch, but they are good enough to be "average."

A couple of questions for you:

(1) What's your sports background, specifically sports like baseball and tennis?

(2) Are you tracking your shots in any meaningful way during the round? And by meaningful, I mean recording where the ball goes and the quality of the strike/flight, shot to shot, across every hole. There are a thousand apps on the market that can tell you where you're picking up or losing strokes compared to your goal handicap so you can be more deliberate in your approach when practicing and preparing.

A product like Arccos will do it for you, though YMMV on accuracy. For example, my goal is to shoot 85 this season. Arccos tells me that I'm +0.5 on driving and +1.6 on putting compared to a 13 handicap (so picking up more than 2 shots there). However, I'm -3.5 on my short game and -1.6 on my approach, so I'm losing strokes to get to my goal inside 150 yards and off the green to hit my number. Consequently, my range time has been really wedge and short iron focused. (Shameless Arccos referal link here.)

There are free options, too (18 Birdies, the Grint) that work well. Or you can go old school and write it down if you don't like the phone.

Ol army 92 said:

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I think my practice time needs to include more driver if I'm being honest. Every online "coach" wants to tell you to concentrate on short game. That's fine but not when it takes you 4 stokes to get to the apron!


Practice, practice, practice. I guess I just want to feel like I'm getting better

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I agree with you on going the opposite of the historic mantra of focusing on short game. While it doesn't mean hammer a bucket with 100 drivers, but work on drivers, woods, and hybrids. Find something you are comfortable with off the tee

If don't have a short game you can't score. But if you can't get off the tee, you can't play. Getting rid of penalty strokes off the tee and topped drives will make the biggest, most immediate score improvements. As long as you can find it off the tee hitting 2, advance it somewhere in the general vicinity of the hole, you'll be having a bunch of putts for par and easy single bogies before you know it and will be under a 100.

Regarding background - I played football in high school and pretty much every intramural I could at A&M. I'd say I am an average tennis player for my age but I haven't played in a couple years. I played competitive league tennis from 8 to 13 or 14. Never, ever the best athlete on the field/court but I've always held my own. 6' 185 and a runner today.

I have a Garmin Fenix watch with the golf app. It tracks shots by GPS. In the 6 rounds where I've turned it on (across 3 different courses) I hit the fairway 21% of the time but going through the shot maps I am just off the fairway probably another 20%+ of the time. I would guess I slice one into the woods and lose it about once a round. I miss right twice as much as left.

When I look at the map on my last round (115 score) my driver was used 12 times. Shortest was 53 and longest was 218. 4 drives less than 120 and 6 186 or higher. My 5 iron ranged from 37 yards to 179. 7 iron is the most consistent club in the bag - 135-150 is pretty normal.

It all seems to boil down to consistency and practice. Now, if it would just quit raining....

Good to hear you have figured out to not think too much. The other thing that helped me get over the hump you are at was not taking practice swings for most of my shots. Only for unusual lies and less than full swing shots around the green do I take a practice swings

Good luck in getting down to 90.

Yeah, there's no reason you can't break 100. It'll come in an avalanche, too. You just need something to click for you.

Quote:

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I'd say I am an average tennis player for my age but I haven't played in a couple years. I played competitive league tennis from 8 to 13 or 14.

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Here's the good news:
You inherently understand some things about the golf swing from that much tennis. Think service. You already understand that it's not all arms that generate power, but using your legs/hips/core. You also probably have a good understanding of smoothness, because you won't do well on the court without a little tempo and rhythm in your stroke. Same with golf. You also probably have a very good feel for controlling the face of your racket, how to apply spin, angles, etc. You'll understand how the face of your club acts the same way.



Here's the bad news:
You have a ton of muscle memory that will make you inherently treat your golf stroke like your tennis stroke, especially with respect to how you shift your weight and move. It's also getting used to a stationary sport compared to a reactionary one.

Take this with a grain of salt, but one drill that might help would be one-handed swings to get that backhand stroke feel with your left hand (if you're a righty).

Both helpful videos! Especially comparing a backhand to a golf swing.

Appreciate the positivity and tips.

So about half of golfers break 100. A quarter break 90. Somewhere between 2 and 5% break 80. I've done that about 5 times. Golf is really really hard.

AgOutsideAustin said:

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Move the driver ball position back just a hair and swing about 85%. You are probably pulling off the ball and topping it so moving it back just a hair may help. Swinging easier can hopefully help you get a fairway finder tee shot.

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This. I started 4 years ago and finally stay in the 14 HCI range. This Saturday I felt rushed and started hozzling every iron. For 4 holes I wanted to quit golf forever, then my buddy just pointed out 3 simple things:

- Slow down my backswing (the worse I hit the ball, the faster my next swing was)
- Turn my shoulders (rushing my backswing basically made my swing all arms)
- Move the ball back a little in my stance

I was 9 over after 4 holes (yep!), and finished with a 95. Felt like a completely opposite golfer after those first 4.

Nice!
Venmo $200 to @AOAGolf

AgOutsideAustin said:

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Nice!
Venmo $200 to @AOAGolf

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Sending it via carrier pigeon.

You and I have very similar games only I hit it shorter than you.

Was talking with some friends this weekend who typically shoot in the 80s. One of the guys in our friend group has a handicap of 4. What they told me was that he hits the ball in the sweet spot of the club every single time. He doesn't swing hard, but he hits it in the right spot and the ball takes off. It makes him consistently longer than everyone they know.

If you're in the DFW area and want to play with someone who makes you feel better about your game, hit me up.

I've been playing golf off and on for 30 years but for the past year, I've been playing more often (once a week). But I don't go to the range so no practice time. Only time I swing a golf club is on the course. And no lessons because I arrogantly, stubbornly, and stupidly, think that I can eventually figure it out on my own.

Yesterday, I just shot an 82 which is my lowest round ever.

So if it can happen to me, no doubt you'll eventually get there yourself.

I will see you guys next week on the F GOLF thread.