What do you have to do to be "good" at golf?

[-CRW-]

I was reading several articles on the average golfer, and just about all of them said that the average weekend golfer rarely genuinely breaks 100. So with that being said, what do you have to do (or have some of you done) to be better than the average or weekend golfer?

I could break 100 on an easy, wide open public course but am getting my butt handed to me on the private courses where I am a member now. I can't break 50 on 9 yet (but haven't played there more than a few times - and on different courses.

I started golfing roughly 14 months ago. Since then I've been at the range 2-3 times a week minimum, played probably 60 full rounds, and have taken literally 30 lessons during that time. I've also been through a fitting at Club Champion just to learn, and recently at the Taylormade Performance lab where I bought clubs fit to me.

I can get in a groove with any club on the range and look like a pro, but it almost always takes 5-10 swings to find the right swing or swing thoughts to get me into the groove. I can't do this on the course and find myself hitting fat at times, thin at times, slices, with good shots literally in between the bad. I feel like this is par for the course with beginners. BUT, what's next? Playing on the course more often, more time playing golf in general, being more random with my clubs or practice routine on the range?

Inquiring minds want to know...

 

[Mmaynard11]

For one I would look at where you are devoting your practice to? Are you solely working on driver and irons, and not so much on your short game? Some thing else to consider would be to develop a pre-shot routine that you do for every shot. I know for me short game is an area that I lack and if I would consistently practice putting, my scores would definitely improve. Good luck!

 

[tequila4kapp]

Have you improved over the course of those lessons?

 

[-CRW-]

For one I would look at where you are devoting your practice to? Are you solely working on driver and irons, and not so much on your short game? Some thing else to consider would be to develop a pre-shot routine that you do for every shot. I know for me short game is an area that I lack and if I would consistently practice putting, my scores would definitely improve. Good luck!

I try to play by the 80% rule, which for me means my 3i and 3w stay in the bag and my driver should (but doesn't). The problem is, I don't hit my 3 wood any better off the tee than I do my driver or 3i. Sometimes I hit awesome shots with all three of those clubs, but less than 50% of the time on the course. My short game could improve a lot, but I neglect it because I can usually pitch or chip onto a green with my first try 80% of the time. But less than 80% of the time where I want or close to the pin. I also average 37 or 2.2 putts per hole. So not great, but close to par for outts and within the 80% rule.

So yes, I neglect a lot of areas because I'm trying to gain some consistency with full swings. I usually hit 10-20 short irons shots pretty well to warm up on the range and switch to the longer clubs.

I have had 2 short game lessons during my private lessons. The first was a long time ago and I didn't do well with what that instructor was teaching. My last short game lesson was last week and I picked up a lot of techniques to work on. I was thinking about doing a playing lesson next, but don't know if it will help a whole lot with my inconsistencies.

I guess I'm wondering if there are obvious things I'm just flat out missing that helped better players become better.

 

[Spivey]

While I am not in the same boat as you, our goals are similar.
I would start by getting off the tee with a club that is consistent for you, whether it is a 4i, 3w/driver, or pitching wedge. Keeping the ball in play is important.
Then, you need to work on your short game - not solely pitching, but inside 80 yards. You will find that you will gain strokes in that area first, with the fastest progress.
And you should work on putting - 37 putts is too many. That number will go down as you get the ball closer to the hole as you become a better short game player.
I know that if I can get my chips within 6 ft of the hole and can give myself a few legit birdie putts a round, my score will be pretty good.
Good luck with the process - although frustrating, practice is still better than work!

 

[-CRW-]

Have you improved over the course of those lessons? How long have you been playing overall and how long have you been really active at golf?

Yes. BUT, I started out playing a slice and learning to play the miss. Then I had 5 lessons that were a waste of time and I don't feel like I got anything out of them. Then I took 2 lessons from a friend just to try and figure out the swing in general. Then I found a new instructor who spent 12 lessons helping me turn the slice into a fade with my irons. I didn't mesh with his short game techniques (hitting down on everything to use loft instead of bounce). We never really got anywhere with my woods or driver and only limited my over the top move. The last 11 lessons have been with a new instructor who immediately had me hitting draws with my irons, though I still struggle doing so with my 3i, 3w, and driver - but can do it some of the time. Whether anyone cares to believe it or not I have hit a 293 yard draw with my current driver on a course, but average 250-260 when I'm hitting it okay on the course.

And I've been playing for right at 14 months total and have been very active the entire time. I've only missed the range entirely a few weeks out of that time and typically play 1 time a week. Though I've only played more difficult courses a handful of times, less than 20, with 10 or so being scrambles that don't count.

 

[tequila4kapp]

Hmmm, I'm kind of curious what Freddie would say.

 

[P.J.]

Definitely try to mix it up on the range. 2 consecutive shots with the same club at most if you can. Pick different targets and always use your preshot on the range. Make it feel like the real thing as much as possible. And remember you're still relatively new to the game. Keep at it

 

[golfinFF]

It's mental for me-

When I set at firing the shot tight to my target and focus on it that's what I do.

When I don't focus it's a crap shoot on the outcome and can almost guarantee a poor result.

Playing confident/cocky yet humble has worked for me knowing when to know you got the shot and when to play it safe to post a good/acceptable number.

When I practice I pick one swing flaw to fix at a time, I may go through two or three drills but only one of those at a time.

Have a short game that will not only get you on the green but get you where you have a chance to one putt and at worse 2 putt is key, or get out of bunkers in one. Lag putting is also crucial to me to prevent big numbers

 

[Mmaynard11]

I have had 2 short game lessons during my private lessons. The first was a long time ago and I didn't do well with what that instructor was teaching. My last short game lesson was last week and I picked up a lot of techniques to work on. I was thinking about doing a playing lesson next, but don't know if it will help a whole lot with my inconsistencies.

I guess I'm wondering if there are obvious things I'm just flat out missing that helped better players become better.

I mean without seeing your swing, course management, etc its hard to tell. I know once I started taking lessons this year to work on things, I found that I had to many thoughts running through my head with every shot, which as you can expect resulted in a poor shot being played. My recommendation would if anything try to take a single thought related to what you are working on and go from there. Keep the game simple and try not to over swing, or change what you do from the range to the course.

 

[-CRW-]

While I am not in the same boat as you, our goals are similar.
I would start by getting off the tee with a club that is consistent for you, whether it is a 4i, 3w/driver, or pitching wedge. Keeping the ball in play is important.
Then, you need to work on your short game - not solely pitching, but inside 80 yards. You will find that you will gain strokes in that area first, with the fastest progress.
And you should work on putting - 37 putts is too many. That number will go down as you get the ball closer to the hole as you become a better short game player.
I know that if I can get my chips within 6 ft of the hole and can give myself a few legit birdie putts a round, my score will be pretty good.
Good luck with the process - although frustrating, practice is still better than work!

Before anyone things I'm crazy, I will admit that I'm probably going about the game the wrong way. I could probably hit most par 5's with three 6i shots as it is on average a 160 yard club for me. But I've felt up until this point that I would be artificially lowering my cap by only using what I'm decent with and not working on the areas I'm worst at. But maybe I should be sticking to my better areas on the course and continue working on the rest of my game on the range.

And don't get me wrong, messing up on the course of at the range is frustrating. But, I still always enjoy the game regardless of score. And I understand that it takes years and a lot of practice and actual rounds to get good. But patience is not one of my virtues so I'm always looking for ways to improve faster. Maybe that's not a reasonable expectation in golf.

 

[blugold]

Enjoy the game regardless of score. That way every round is a good round.

But to learn a good swing and make it repeatable without fail is about impossible.

It's muscle memory. Time has to be put in so the movements and positions become second nature. And even then, shat happens

 

[kc720]

Course/game management is huge IMO. Its about hitting the clubs/shots that will give you the best options for getting par. If its a 400 yd par 4, driver in the crap, chunk out, top long iron, chip and two putt for double os not the way. If you have lets say a good 7 iron for 150, hit it twice, wedge on and two putt is bogie. Multiply that by say 14 par 4s and you shave 14 shots off the score.

 

[-CRW-]

Have a short game that will not only get you on the green but get you where you have a chance to one putt and at worse 2 putt is key, or get out of bunkers in one. Lag putting is also crucial to me to prevent big numbers

This definitely kicks my butt. My home course before had a handful of bunkers and I rarely found myself in them. The new course I'm playing and the harder courses have plenty. I took 3 strokes to get out a bunker twice in a round recently. I was in one today that I got out of in 1, but flew the green. I've also hit from one far green side bunker into another bunker between the one I was in and the hole.

 

[P.J.]

Oh and none of my business but definitely consider hybrids. I can break 80 and I don't game a 4 iron let alone a 3.

 

[-CRW-]

Enjoy the game regardless of score. That way every round is a good round.

But to learn a good swing and make it repeatable without fail is about impossible.

It's muscle memory. Time has to be put in so the movements and positions become second nature. And even then, shat happens

I'm a happy golfer for the most part. I don't throw clubs or get loud. But I do get frustrated which I know compounds the problems. But I'm a competitive person.

I've also spent years of my life in martial arts and competitive shooting which both require developing muscle memory. That's the kicker with golf. My subconscious brain is probably going haywire trying to figure out what to ingrain since there are more bad shots than good.

 

[-CRW-]

Oh and none of my business but definitely consider hybrids. I can break 80 and I don't game a 4 iron let alone a 3.

I've tried, but really don't get along with them. You might as well put a 3 wood in my hands.

 

[P.J.]

I've tried, but really don't get along with them. You might as well put a 3 wood in my hands.

Ha! Well that's a shame. I know plenty of folks in your shoes tho.

 

[-CRW-]

Ha! Well that's a shame. I know plenty of folks in your shoes tho.

I know it's in my head. You put a hybrid or club longer than a 5 iron in my hand and I think that I need to swing twice as hard...slowing down with the longer clubs has been easier said than done for me.

 

[blugold]

I'm a happy golfer for the most part. I don't throw clubs or get loud. But I do get frustrated which I know compounds the problems. But I'm a competitive person.

I've also spent years of my life in martial arts and competitive shooting which both require developing muscle memory. That's the kicker with golf. My subconscious brain is probably going haywire trying to figure out what to ingrain since there are more bad shots than good.

Learn to smile and laugh at the bad strokes. They will be easier to get over and left behind. I started laughing at myself once I started drawing a smiley face on my glove. It reminded me to be happy. No matter what just happened.

Also, a piece of perspective. Golf has been played in some form for close to 400 years. Breaking par wasn't done until the late 1800s. Just look at the 12 hole scores that won the first Open Championships. Mid 80s. (Off the top of my head)

If the best player in the world can't execute his desired shot every time. How can you?

 

[SaffaClint]

The most important thing that led to me being what I'd call good at golf was having lessons right at the start. I was 10/11 and went for an hour long lesson every other weekend for about 6 months. From thereon it was up to me to get better but it came easy thanks to having laid the foundations and good fundamentals. It also helped that I was gifted with good hand eye coordination which made the game easier for me.
I haven't had a single lesson in over 25 years, don't practice on a range unless something in my swing is off and actually consider rounds played to be the best practice anyway. I play once or twice a week in winter and still don't have issues shooting level par or better on just about any course.
In the end I think for the average golfer it comes down to practicing what you're weakest at and learning to eliminate blowup holes, make bogie the worst score possible.

 

[ArmyGolf]

If I could start from scratch again I would start with lessons before even hitting a course. Starting with a fundamentally sound grip, posture, and motion would have been so much better than what ive done.

 

[tahoebum]

If I could start from scratch again I would start with lessons before even hitting a course. Starting with a fundamentally sound grip, posture, and motion would have been so much better than what ive done.

Wise words from ArmyGolf. So much of golf is the fundamentals of grip, alignment, ball position, posture, and tempo. I was lucky enough to have a dad that emphasized these fundamentals when I took up the game at age 13. It pains me to see so many golfers beating balls on the range that have not mastered any of the fundamentals.

 

[Paladin]

What would it take to feel like I'm playing well? Hit target a bit more often, and make fewer dumb decisions.

What does it take to get good at golf? Depends on the person. Some people just get it. They understand how to hit a golf ball, almost innately. Some of us it takes lessons, range time, and smart practice. Understanding your game has a lot to do with this. Working your irons and driver all day when you hit a lot of 4-putts doesn't really constitute smart practice. Spending all day hitting driver when your home course demands high accuracy off the tee isn't smart practice.

I can say this stuff all day, but implementing it is another story.

 

[Supersport]

Here are some thoughts on your current situation. You are obviously able to put in the time and effort required to get better at golf. A couple things I noticed

30 lessons in 14 months? Holy smokes! You do not say much about the progress you have made in that time but I think that you may be suffering from information overload. I took a series of 3 lessons over a 4 month period and felt that the spacing was about right and any more lessons in between would have been redundant. I want a few (1 or 2) things that I really need to focus on changing or modifying in my swing. After I am taught those things and know how to practice them, I want to go work on it, when I did this that meant trying to hit 1000 balls or make 1000 swings while focusing on the 1-2 main things before I went back. I found that I developed some good fundamental changes in my swing that made me better. I hit more good shots a lot more often. When I went back, we reviewed if I had made the changes that we identified the first time and then moved to the next couple of items to focus on. By the time I went to my 3rd lesson, the original big changes were second nature and just part of my swing.

Also, as you are working on making changes, I was encouraged to, and found it helpful, to use one club (6,7,8 iron) and make at least 80% of your time dedicated to working on your swing and the changes or drills you were given. Once you have good fundamentals, you can make slight adjustments for longer and shorter clubs. By bouncing around with long irons, short irons, wedges, drivers etc, you are confusing your muscle memory on exactly what type of feel results in what type of shot. It also adds to the mental aspect of developing consistency. Dont make it harder than it needs to be.