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When do your expectations for your game change?

rbarthle17

rbarthle17

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I have been working hard to find my swing, something consistent that I know what it does and can repeat. And about a month ago, some things started clicking for me. Granted, this is all hitting indoors with a SkyTrak or a simulator telling me the end result, but I have been consistently hitting the ball better than ever. I can feel my body doing the same things swing after swing.

When do you think to yourself, "This is good, I should expect lower scores than before"? When does it become more than a hot streak, but an ingrained change, in your mind?
 
If I ever get there I'll let you know.
 
I pretty much set higher goals once I reach the old ones. I had a goal to break 80 this past year. Once I did that, the goal became to set a new PB every time I went out.
 
I've been close before, so in my mind that level came back in college and right after college. I was at my best for scores and handicap. With THAT said, I've changed my swing since then, for the better. I'd love to have the chance practice more with my newer swing, so because of that I'd tell you I haven't got there yet.
 
I think things change when you are able to repeat your improvement. I'm sure everyone has had days where they play better than expected but the next time out you're left wondering what happened. That's why I say repeated results indicate the your swing is improving!!
 
I think Im an out liar but i rarely set goals with golf. Golf is something fun for me and something Im at my best at when I am playing carefree. I guess i have an ability to block a lot of lifes BS out and hit the course to enjoy myself. Setting specific goals to me would only create stress in the game. I know that when I play more i play better and i have fun when i play better so i need to play more
 
Everything is always incremental with a long term goal in mind
 
rbarthle17 said:
I have been working hard to find my swing, something consistent that I know what it does and can repeat. And about a month ago, some things started clicking for me. Granted, this is all hitting indoors with a SkyTrak or a simulator telling me the end result, but I have been consistently hitting the ball better than ever. I can feel my body doing the same things swing after swing.

When do you think to yourself, "This is good, I should expect lower scores than before"? When does it become more than a hot streak, but an ingrained change, in your mind?
Click to expand...

I have found for me improvement in golf is not linear. Once you get a new skill set comfortably in hand it can make a leap in your scores. Learning to catch a chip cleanly and consistently on strike can make scores drop in a hurry by turning 3 shots into 2. If your scores drop to a new consistent low for several rounds and your hc trends lower that would be the proof.

On a personal note. I can see the difference in your ball flight and I am glad you chose to put a Driver in the bag. You should now be expecting better scores without a doubt. Dump your putter and come over to the Dark Side and you are there!!!! I have seen A+ improvement. Great work!!
 
When I saw the potential of my game limited by chronic injuries. I'll be a 90s golfer. That's it. I've lowered my expectations. Some days will be good. Some days will be bad.
 
I seem to get there for a month or so and then something else pops up and I go back to struggling....it's a never ending journey
 
It took me over a year when I got a new driver, but I have to constantly tell myself on the tee box to do what I know makes it work. As long as I do that it works, if I forget who knows where it will go. It is a constant all the time.
 
I think it's hard to pin-point a moment for me where I thought "I can expect to play better now." It's a long gradual climb to better golf.
 
My expectations change when the snow has melted and the grass is green.
 
That's a good question, I've been getting consistent lessons every 2 weeks or so for about 4 months now and although my swing is improving my scores aren't really. I know I have a ways left to go with my swing though also, so I'm not getting too frustrated with my scoring yet, but I'm expecting some better things over the summer.
 
I think incremental change is a good word to describe my progress and I tend to look at my worst scores and best scores, as well as generally how I'm striking the ball, as indicators. When my worst scores start to become scores that used to be average to me and my lowest are PB's or close to it, I recognize improvement. Once I recognize it, my expectations change.

The last couple seasons I have seen good improvement and now my expectations are starting to change this season. My goals are simply to break 85 and get my handicap down below 15.

It's healthy to have perspective though. If those expectations don't come through, then hopefully I meet my continuing expectation of having a good time out there.
 
Every day I go out I expect to be better than the day before. Unfortunately that does not happen. There will be days where things click, and then days where I completely forget how to swing a club.
 
I never set a score for myself because things can go south very quickly. I just play my best, hole per hole, and hope that the score will add up to something good.

I'm happy with my swing now that I no longer have to consciously think about it, meaning it's almost automatic to use it to play.

There are still mistakes, lapses in focus and technique, but I'll take 8 out of 10 every time.
 
rbarthle17 said:
I have been working hard to find my swing, something consistent that I know what it does and can repeat. And about a month ago, some things started clicking for me. Granted, this is all hitting indoors with a SkyTrak or a simulator telling me the end result, but I have been consistently hitting the ball better than ever. I can feel my body doing the same things swing after swing.

When do you think to yourself, "This is good, I should expect lower scores than before"? When does it become more than a hot streak, but an ingrained change, in your mind?
Click to expand...
When I consistently reach that level of play without really even think about it; I just play and the scoring just happens. Scoring even a touch above that level seems like a pretty bad day.
 
Break 100 everytime with no mulligans or pick ups.Spent a lot of funds on lessons
 
I tend to be that person that fixes one detail and I feel good about it. I then move on to something else. I can't say I've ever felt as if my overall game was at a climax. I grind every year on one or two things and work on something else next year.
 
I'm the definition of impatient, so... I expect changes all the time.

The one thing I've figured out in 23 years of playing is that I haven't figured anything out yet. It's a sad reality, but... it IS reality.

Last season, I was having a really difficult time off the tee. I began the year with a sizable fade and it developed into a hook and then a pull hook. So, when I was figuring that I had eliminated the left side of the course (by playing the fade)... then the left side was suddenly in play and the right side was eliminated. The problem was that I was afraid of the ball going right, so I kept fearing that... aiming left of center and then pulling and/or hooking the ball into trouble. During that stretch, my penalties (and scores) went up by 4-7 strokes.

I then went through a stretch where I thought I had figured it out again. I 'fixed' my problem by keeping a large majority of my weight on my front leg throughout the swing. I don't know why it worked... but it kept me from hooking the ball, and I was keeping the ball in play.

I played for the first time in 2016 just over 2 weeks ago and I again had trouble with the right side. I kept the same swing I finished the year with off the tee, keeping my weight on my front leg. I missed 7 of 14 fairways (which is about average for me). Of those 7 misses... 5 were right. I took 3 penalties with the driver off the tee. 2 of those 3 were lost to the right. So... again, I have figured absolutely nothing out.

I suppose at my handicap level and the infrequency with which I actually play or practice... I shouldn't expect much, but it would be nice to keep my scores in a consistent range. I shot as low as 84 and as high as 105 last season. I'd like to keep it in the mid-to-high 80's range. But... I can't even expect that.

* shrug *
 
For me it would be consistency hitting the ball which I am starting to see both at the range and on the course. Once that is solid then you can spend more time on your short game and putting. Not to say you should not spend time on those while working on being a consistent ball striker, just that when you are confident with that then you open up practice time to refine the finesse portion of the game.
 
I think that golf is like a Russian matryoshka doll. It's a game within a game within a game.

We all start with the hit the ball game. That's when you work on hitting good shots and celebrate them when they happen. With dedication, we progress to where the well struck ball is more the norm than the exception...

Then we move on to the score well on a hole game. That's when we string together a few shots and we get rewarded with a bogey, then a par, then a birdie and, hopefully, someday, some eagles....

Once we've learned how to score on a hole and it happens with some regularity, we start to expect it and then the game becomes how can we score in 9 holes and then 18 holes. We may have some birdies in a round but now what matters is the score for the round....

And if you get to the score well in a round level, you then start to work on making that happen consistently...


For me, the expectations change at each of those junctures. The great thing about the game is if you focus on the level you are at and focus on that step, you can divorce yourself from overall score, etc and find joy in reaching the immediate goal. And if you follow each step and dedicate yourself, you can actually become a reasonably good golfer.
 
When your bad rounds become rounds you were happy with the year before. When you score well without making any putts.
 
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