I Knew I Was Bad, But.....

[BRISTOL86]

...didn't realise quite how bad.

If you've read any of my threads, you'll know I'm a recent newcomer to the game, who has been struggling with very inconsistent ball contact and trying to get a little better under my own guidance.

I felt like I'd been making some progress of late on the range, so this morning went out to play a fairly straightforward par-three course.

Well, what an absolute disaster it was. I'm almost too embarassed to post about it - but I'm doing so in the hope that one day I will look back and laugh at how bad I was "back then"!

I finished with 98(!!!) - 44 over par :embarrassed: I suppose I should take the positive of breaking 100, lol! :egyptian:

Annoyingly, I stepped up to the first tee, full of nerves (also the first in our threesome to hit their shot, so added pressure!) and hit a lovely wedge shot to almost the middle of the green, then holed out in two putts for a par. I was so happy. Sadly that's as good as it got for the rest of the day.

On at least 9 holes I ended up taking three off the tee after wild slices into long rough, and on a couple did it twice, ending up five off the tee - absolute killer. That's around 25 strokes just thrown away from errant tee shots!

On a slight positive, I took only two putts on 12 out of 18 holes, and my chipping/pitching from just off the green was largely OK.

SO....I'm going for my first lesson on Wednesday evening with a local pro. When they ask me why I want lessons, I'm just going to present my scorecard :laugh:

I feel like if I can nail down a bit of consistency on my ball striking, I am good enough around the green to not walk away with horrible scores like today. It will be interesting to go back after a few lessons and play again, to see what effect the lessons are having.

The only way is up from, here...right?!

 

[Golf 'N Gator]

Just don't do what I've been doing the past few years. When you find a single clubs that works for you, keep it! Don't buy into the marketing hype. I'm ten strokes better with my current bag than I've been the past two or three years with the latest and greatest clubs.

Lessons also are good and for me lessons have been for life. I had my first in the early 70's and my last two weeks ago, all with the same PGA Teacher. He is 80 years old now and he knows my swing better than I do.

 

[russtopher]

Hey man, don't sweat it! We've all been there, and some of us are STILL there. My first round out this season, on a relatively short course, was a 103. It happens.

The game of golf is hard, don't let anyone tell you it's not. It's great that you're getting lessons, and yes you are definitely going to get better from here. Relax, have fun, and remember that it doesn't happen overnight.

 

[BRISTOL86]

Just don't do what I've been doing the past few years. When you find a single clubs that works for you, keep it! Don't buy into the marketing hype. I'm ten strokes better with my current bag than I've been the past two or three years with the latest and greatest clubs.

Lessons also are good and for me lessons have been for life. I had my first in the early 70's and my last two weeks ago, all with the same PGA Teacher. He is 80 years old now and he knows my swing better than I do.

For sure, I have no intention on changing equipment. Believe me, I know that the problem is with me and not the clubs! If only it were that simple!

Hey man, don't sweat it! We've all been there, and some of us are STILL there. My first round out this season, on a relatively short course, was a 103. It happens.

The game of golf is hard, don't let anyone tell you it's not. It's great that you're getting lessons, and yes you are definitely going to get better from here. Relax, have fun, and remember that it doesn't happen overnight.

Thanks man. Yeah, fingers crossed it's all up from here! I'm sure the pro will have no trouble spotting the things I'm doing wrong in my swing.

 

[Song Dog]

I started back up mid to late summer of last year and in the real early 90's was the last I played and back then, I did hardly play.
NUMEROUS times last year I hit anywhere from 8-10 shots per hole. Now I am getting some birdies, pars, and bogeys.
IT WILL GET BETTER, I promise.

 

[Darren37]

I haven't been playing for even a year yet and just own it. I suck....I know I suck so anything good that comes off the club is awesome for me. More importantly have fun with it. When I whiff a ball or hit a grounder I just Tiger Woods fist pump as if I hit a great shot knowing it was a dud hop in the kart and move along. It's a learning experience but not a sport worth getting frustrated about.

 

[Jarick]

I Knew I Was Bad, But.....

Hi,

I'm not a good golfer by any stretch, but I would recommend dropping the longer clubs from the bag until you improve on the range.

Last year, I couldn't hit more than 5% of driver shots without slicing, so I dropped it. And the 3 wood. And everything else down to my 7 iron. I literally carried 7, 9, gap, and sand wedges plus putter.

Eventually I added a 5 hybrid, then when my shots were consistent enough to get yardages added the 8, pitching, and lob wedges. Then a 3 hybrid.

This year my driver and 3 wood are straight maybe 80-85 percent of the time on the range, so I am finally putting them back in the bag.

I think it's a decent approach since short irons and wedges won't slice too far off target, and you keep working on the rest in practice.

 

[BRISTOL86]

Hi,

I'm not a good golfer by any stretch, but I would recommend dropping the longer clubs from the bag until you improve on the range.

Last year, I couldn't hit more than 5% of driver shots without slicing, so I dropped it. And the 3 wood. And everything else down to my 7 iron. I literally carried 7, 9, gap, and sand wedges plus putter.

Eventually I added a 5 hybrid, then when my shots were consistent enough to get yardages added the 8, pitching, and lob wedges. Then a 3 hybrid.

This year my driver and 3 wood are straight maybe 80-85 percent of the time on the range, so I am finally putting them back in the bag.

I think it's a decent approach since short irons and wedges won't slice too far off target, and you keep working on the rest in practice.

Hi

Yes, I only use my 6iron - 9iron and wedges at present - I want to get a good repeatable iron swing before I start trying to implement longer clubs!

 

[davemate]

I played a par 3 course today. Went with social group, about 18 people. Anyway its amazing how everyone struggled. Par 3's are a different game and the course is usually set out to test your short game.

Greens were very small and ran off all over the place. You arrive at a par 3 course with the attitude of its going to be easy but they never are.
I scored at 40 in the front nine and then we played it a second time to make it 18 and I scored a 32 on the second time around.

So 72 in total. But to get that I needed a bunch of par's and a birdie on the 2nd nine. Believe me on the front nine I couldn't by a darn par.

 

[BRISTOL86]

I played a par 3 course today. Went with social group, about 18 people. Anyway its amazing how everyone struggled. Par 3's are a different game and the course is usually set out to test your short game.

Greens were very small and ran off all over the place. You arrive at a par 3 course with the attitude of its going to be easy but they never are.
I scored at 40 in the front nine and then we played it a second time to make it 18 and I scored a 32 on the second time around.

So 72 in total. But to get that I needed a bunch of par's and a birdie on the 2nd nine. Believe me on the front nine I couldn't by a darn par.

Agree that it's not easy and they can be quite a test where some holes are so short.

I actually really enjoyed my game around and on the greens. My putting wasn't too bad considering I haven't really ever done any! The same with my short little chips around the green. It's my full swing consistency that's all over the place. I think something fundamental is off on my setup - looking forward to seeing a pro and hoping to find what it is!

 

[CAA_Beat]

Definitely go for the lesson. You'll be surprised at how some of the basics alignment, grip and posture can possibly make an immediate impact.

There are very few newcomers to the game that can successfully teach or self correct ourselves.

I've never regretted one lesson I've taken.


Good luck and make sure you come back and fill us in on your successes as well

 

[jspangs]

One tip I can give you is, learn to hit different shots. Just because you have 120 yards doesn't mean you have to hit a full 9i (or whatever your 120 club is). When my swing gets lost, I will only play 1/2 and 3/4 shots. And when it really bad, I will play a round just hitting 9i til I feel I'm hitting how I want, then move to the 8i and so on.

 

[I'dHitThat]

You'll be surprised at how some of the basics alignment, grip and posture can possibly make an immediate impact.

So true, don't be surprised if the bulk of your issues are in the basics. I recently took a lesson and expected it to be something somewhat complex like swing plane being off, nope.. instructor only adjusted grip, posture, and alignment. I noticed an immediate difference in consistency, I'm finally starting to realize that lessons are well worth the money.

 

[BRISTOL86]

So true, don't be surprised if the bulk of your issues are in the basics. I recently took a lesson and expected it to be something somewhat complex like swing plane being off, nope.. instructor only adjusted grip, posture, and alignment. I noticed an immediate difference in consistency, I'm finally starting to realize that lessons are well worth the money.

I wouldn't be surprised at all! I'm sure all of the above will not be how they should be!

 

[rlew]

No worries man. That's great to take the positives from the round--chipping was pretty good, lots of two-putts. Golf has so many aspects it's great to slowly build up each one until you're at a level you want.

I went golfing with some buddies last week, and one in particular is a real beginner. Maybe golfed 4-5 times in his left, second time out this summer. I think he shot like a 140 or something, and he stayed mostly positive. I kept telling him that at this point, he's not really supposed to be good. It'd be almost weird if he was. Just don't worry about score too much, try to make good swings and build off of each round.

Keep shootin'

 

[golfsteve]

Stick in buddy! There's so many things to remember, I'm really struggling after trying to take on too many changes at once.

Advice here is good, accept that it's a process to improve and that you need to work on specific parts at a time.

I'm currently trying to get used to striking down on the ball with my irons, I can hit my driver fine but I lack the confidence to strike down with the irons and lose a heap of distance because of it and hit lots of "slappy" shots.

I will be taking my own advice and heading to the pro for a lesson next week


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