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What Is Holding You Back?

Putting and sand are the big things for me, and I'm not sure it's close.
 
1. I need to get lessons.
2. Too inconsistent off the tee.
3. I panic on approach shots.
4. Way too many loose shots (fat, thin, pulls)
 
Loss of distance. Age and the accompanying annoying ailments associated with getting older, has cost me distance over the past 5-10 years. I've lost about 30-40 yards on my drives. 150 yard approach shots used to be a 7 iron - now I need a well struck 5-iron or hybrid to get there. Other than that the short game is OK as is putting and scrambling.
 
Stats wise approaches from outside of 100. Hitting a few more fairways without giving up distance would help.

Mostly it is me though. I think my good shots are really good and can easily be a + cap but I get in my own way. 80% of my bad shots come on unfocused, rushed, indifference. I need to stick to a PSR and not hitting till I have an exact target, ball flight shape and an exact plan of what I want the shot to accomplish.
 
1) Accuracy off tee - had it in the first half of the year and completely lost at toward the end of the season
2) Short game - I had pretty poor touch/feel on chips/pitch shots in a majority of rounds this year, which lead to longer and more difficult putts.
3) Mental aspect of the game - once I feel my swing start to go in a round I tend to be more worried about throwing back a couple transfusions than focusing on golf shots.
 
My driver. I vowed to get it figured out this season and some of my best rounds came when taking 5 wood off the tee.

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I give away too many strokes off the tee. I need to find some kind of consistency there.


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Driving accuracy has always been a weak spot in my game. It's a priority to try to improve on that during the winter months. I just get too long and loose with my backswing, especially with driver, and my control of the face suffers when that happens. I feel like even if I could hit 50% of my fairways, that could be a big upgrade in my game. I just looked back at my stats and my driving is slightly better this year than last year, the majority of my gains have come from putting and short game.
 
I was thinking about my golf this year and I feel like my Physical fitness slipped this year and my game lagged with it also. I am going to make a effort to get back into decent shape for 49 and hope to have more strength and endurance next year,
 
On any given day, any given part of my game can disappear. At this point I couldn’t even say what the weakest part of my game is...probably the amount of time I’ve had to put into it as of late. Putting and driving has probably the least devastating lately.
 
Consistency with distance off the tee & putting from inside 10ft.

1. The distance bugs me because I'm not sure exactly where it goes off the rails at. I've dialed in shots to the point of where I can now find almost any thing I hit in the short grass. The issue being That I'm averaging 230-245 on 98% of my drives with the occasional bomb(275-280) appearing out of seemingly nowhere. No extra hitch in the giddy up, nothing. I'm not unhappy with the accuracy and the shorter drives, but knowing that I have that distance in there would REALLY come in handy. I know my club has a little to do with it as I can hit a friend's f6+ 255 on average, but the accuracy fades. It would just be nice to stick with short irons after a drive on a decent par 4 instead of bringing a 5w or a 4iron out.

2. Putting inside 10ft baffles me every other time I go out. I generally attempt to go conservative in my putting approach so longer putts never make it to the hole, but my <10ft putts always seem to be so erratic on power and feel. I suppose it's just a familiarization issue with the ball and the putter. But that would shave... 7-9 strokes off per round?

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I'd say ball striking, but I don't have the stats to back it up.
 
There are a few things I could name but I think the biggest is a lack of GIRs this year.
 
What's holding me back? Talent.

Am I sure? 100%
 
1) Putting. I thought I was a decent putter until I played with a plus cap. I suck.

1a) Mental game. I think myself into bad shots so often it's ridiculous.

2) Wedge Play. I suck inside 100 yards.
 
My swing. It's serviceable, but not where I would like it to be. Having worked so hard on this game I am beginning to think my athletic ability when it comes to the golf swing is limited. I do have a decent short game though...one doesn't need to be young or athletic to develop one.
 
I play softball yet, so my stance, swing, follow through, everything mimics what I do on the diamond.

I don't believe that I'll get any better at golf until I stop playing ball and can give more thought on my game. I do love the game of golf and the challenge it is.
 
Putting plain and simple. If I could sink more putts inside 5 feet, I would have much lower scores.

Time is probably the biggest obstacle though. Just finding the time to do anything golf related is difficult.
 
several responses in this thread have been illuminating although not necessarily surprising. Part of what holds me back is something I think holds a lot of people back; elevated expectations of what is realistic. Latest stats seem to show the best putters in the world make 65% of their 6' putts, I think I really screwed up every time I miss one.

the best in the world average 23'9" to the hole and he is a crap-ton better, but I get disappointed if my 95 yard shot is not within 3'.

JB Holmes, the 187th best in the world at it, hits the fairway off the tee 51.27% of the time. I think I should be on every fairway.

I want to hit every green from 125 to 150. The 142nd best guy on tour is 51'4" from the hole. That is going to miss an awful lot of greens.

I am nowhere near the skill level of these guys. I don't put in as much practice time in a year as they probably put in during a week where they are playing an event. Yet I expect to be as good as the top 1 or 200 players in the world in every aspect of the game. If I could manage my expectations I would pleased with my scores. I have actually spent quite a bit of time studying the math and for the most part I play mathematically correct. I try to get further down off the tee at the cost of some accuracy unless it would put me in trouble. I select the club to get to the back of the green, I hit to the center of it rather than at the flag, I play for my most common miss. I try to lag the first putt to inside 3' to minimize my putts. And for the amount of practice time I put in I am actually pretty good at those things.

But I THINK like I am putting in 20, 30, 40 hours a week. I think I should be driving it 280 right down the pipe, sticking my 150 yard approach to 3' and birdieing every par 4, landing every second shot on the green on a par 5...


my biggest drawback is thinking I am better than the best with no practice.
 
My iron play the last couple of years is really killing me.


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I think exactly like darthweasel. Reason being, I can go to the range and put 25 balls in a row on a green 140 yards away, and many of the very close to the flag. But on the course I am dealing with all different kinds of lies, grass, wind conditions, etc., but still expect I will be as accurate as at the range. I have a hard time accepting reality.
 
darthweasel said:
several responses in this thread have been illuminating although not necessarily surprising. Part of what holds me back is something I think holds a lot of people back; elevated expectations of what is realistic. Latest stats seem to show the best putters in the world make 65% of their 6' putts, I think I really screwed up every time I miss one.

the best in the world average 23'9" to the hole and he is a crap-ton better, but I get disappointed if my 95 yard shot is not within 3'.

JB Holmes, the 187th best in the world at it, hits the fairway off the tee 51.27% of the time. I think I should be on every fairway.

I want to hit every green from 125 to 150. The 142nd best guy on tour is 51'4" from the hole. That is going to miss an awful lot of greens.

I am nowhere near the skill level of these guys. I don't put in as much practice time in a year as they probably put in during a week where they are playing an event. Yet I expect to be as good as the top 1 or 200 players in the world in every aspect of the game. If I could manage my expectations I would pleased with my scores. I have actually spent quite a bit of time studying the math and for the most part I play mathematically correct. I try to get further down off the tee at the cost of some accuracy unless it would put me in trouble. I select the club to get to the back of the green, I hit to the center of it rather than at the flag, I play for my most common miss. I try to lag the first putt to inside 3' to minimize my putts. And for the amount of practice time I put in I am actually pretty good at those things.

But I THINK like I am putting in 20, 30, 40 hours a week. I think I should be driving it 280 right down the pipe, sticking my 150 yard approach to 3' and birdieing every par 4, landing every second shot on the green on a par 5...


my biggest drawback is thinking I am better than the best with no practice.
Click to expand...

Great post. Way too many people think the pros average 10 feet from 100 yards. If any of my stats are as good as the worst pro I get happy, Their mistakes or lack there of is really what sets them apart for the most part. That and tons of natural talent.
 
In reality, it is a lack of talent that is holding me back.

On the stats, its mostly driving accuracy that is holding me back.
 
Getting up and down... I've spent 95% of my season focusing on wedge play, what wedge (or iron) to pull from the bag in a specific scenario and what shot is needed. Theoretically, I am good at decision making but executing the shot doesn't always work. If my wedge play is there I can break 80 easily, if not... I creep up into the mid 80's and I get frustrated real fast.
 
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