3 years in and still cant swing!

Hello, my names Steve, its my first post on this forum and I’m seeking advice! I’ve been playing (trying to) golf for around 3 years now on and off and I have been a member of the local 9-hole course for this amount of time also.
My problem is that I feel like I’ve never got better. Don’t get me wrong I probably don’t help the situation by falling in and out of love with the sport, as I have a good round and feel like I’ve cracked the code, to then play the next time and be the worst I’ve ever played!!!
I’m not sure what to do to improve my ability however. A lot of people say “just go and play… everyday.. as much as you can, that’s the only way to get better”. It doesn’t feel right though. It feels like I have fundamental issues with my golf swing. Example, went to the driving range today, every club goes 100 yards! Whether it’s a 9 iron, 7 iron, 5 iron, rescue (sometimes 125y) and my 3 wood reaches 125 yards with what I consider a clean hit!! And I don’t even pick the driver out of the bag anymore! When I first started and also for the years afterwards I had loads of lessons with the course pro, and to be fair to him minor things did improve and he got my grip sorted etc, however a lot got worse also. I felt I was paying a lot of money for 30 mins to have 20 mins of nicey nicey chat and 7 mins of lesson talk… the other 3 minutes were where he would regularly be late!! So I’ve avoided these for the past year!!
So I guess my question is, has anyone else found themselves in a similar position when starting out, and how did you figure out what was going wrong and start hitting the proper distances? I appreciate that there is no magic pill and it wont change overnight, but any help to get back on the right track would be awesome!

Lessons. Get some lessons. There’s likely some flaw in your swing that’s causing your issues, hopefully someone that knows what’s wrong can get your swing straight for you.

I'll second that - get lessons. Not all instructors are created equal. A good instructor should have you seeing massive improvement the first session. I'm in the process doing just that. My swing sucks after a long time away from the game. I played a lot last season. Would have a day where I played great (for me), then the next round I'd look like I never swung a golf club in my life. Some of that is just golf, but some that it is I have too many swing concepts in my head and I don't know what I'm doing. I came close to quitting golf altogether last month.

If you can't do lessons, start with the basics. (plenty of you tube videos out there) Grip, posture, stance, takeaway etc etc. Go to the range and just practice fundamentals with a 1/2 swing until you feel like you're making good contact. Then, do it some more slowly increasing to 3/4. Be satisfied with a good range session doing just that. Good contact and flight path. You have to walk before you can run. It took me close to 5 years before I became comfortable with my swing....came from baseball and too stubborn to take lessons. (I'm going to figure this thing out on my own so help me!) Had my handicap down to 10 last year but this year so far, it's jumped up. I'm still learning/tweaking but that's why I love this game. It can only be played...never conquered.

I started 7 years ago and if I was to do it over again I’d have started with lessons and stay away from internet tips or series because it’s very difficult to self analyze what you’re doing. I did the reverse and only after I started with GOOD lessons did I really start to improve. You’ve mentioned that you took lessons and didn’t get anywhere. Time for a new pro. The proper coach will take you to the next level and be as dedicated as you are to improvement. It took me several pros before I found a match.
Honestly if you’re just beating yourself up on the course or range than you’re wasting your time. Go get some proper lessons. It takes a long time to make swing changes. I’m constantly still working on the same things. You see pros on the range doing drills to help with their weaknesses. Don’t give up. Have fun and everything will fall into place.

Welcome to THP.

As other have said, I would get some lessons.

I’ve been playing for over 30 years and still can’t break 90 some days. Your grip probably stinks, start there. Get a proper grip, learn to aim the clubface to the target, and then figure some way to breathe and release tension before you swing. Keep doing that on the range and eventually you’ll lock in on the best swing you’ve got. Play a little bit and then like others have said, get lessons from someone who understands what you do well and works from there.

Another strong recommendation for lessons. It sounds like you were terribly short changed on your first go round. The tech available to instructors these days is beyond helpful. I recently went back to a pro who helped me a couple of years ago. On the first set of lessons he would video me on his phone and plug it into some software we would watch on his desktop. That was helpful but I eventually backslid and had to go back to him.
He had a lot more tech available to him this time. We did a two hour session that started with a bunch of physical tests to give me a fitness score and some exercises to improve my golf fitness. Then I hit balls until he was ready to video several swings. He pointed out some problems and gave me drills to address them. He videoed me doing the drills and making improved swings afterward. Then we went out to the short game practice area. I hit some pitch shots that looked good and chips that were not so good. He gave me a good drill on chipping then had me chip some with a hybrid using a putting grip/stroke. I told him how terrible I am in the sand so he had me hold his phone and video him giving about a 20 minute sand lesson that at the end had me popping balls out of a deep bunker.
None of this was cheap but I am already seeing improvement. I will book another shorter lesson in a couple of weeks to follow up after I have had time to integrate all he showed me into my game.
Afterwards he set up an account under my email and posted all the video lessons on it so I can refer back whenever I need to.
You’re still new at the game without a lot of bad habits to unlearn. If you can get this kind of instruction and work at it I bet you will quickly see major improvement.

Basic Swing: Get Hogan's classic book: Ben Hogan's Five Lessons: The modern fundamentals of golf. Ten bucks on Amazon. 109 pages of gold. Read it, study the excellent drawings, and DO WHAT IT SAYS. Do it like you found religion.
After a few months, you'll have a basic good swing you can build from, alter, get lessons, etc.

Short Game: Tom Watsons' classic: Getting Up and Down. Pitching, chipping, putting with tons of drills.

The books are great, but you need a second set of eyes to make sure that you are doing it properly. Otherwise, take a video of yourself and analyze it. Of course, if you can get a pro to watch you, and give you advice (called lessons), it would be a big help as well.

Bizzle87 said:

has anyone else found themselves in a similar position when starting out?

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Yes, not only when starting, but randomly, and still happening

Bizzle87 said:

how did you figure out what was going wrong?

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Once you somehow figure something out, something new goes out the window.
example, this weekend I finally solved my chipping woes! But my driver went from going left with a sprinkle of hooks, to the last two rounds slice-o-rama.

Bizzle87 said:

start hitting the proper distances?

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I still don't know what the proper distances should be. I just know what my distances are, but that changes as how my swing is going for that month.


All I can say is remember to have FUN. Golf is tough for most of us, and a never end shankshow with a few magical shots thrown in to keep us coming back. Try a new teacher, video yourself and review, try a new swing from a book, even try to swing left handed. But always smile and laugh.

Well there are a lot of books and a lot of videos. There's a lot of crap about angles, about this X-factor, about keeping your left foot planted and turning your shoulders while your hips only turn a little bit (a great way to hurt your back), all this crap about how the takeaway has to be just right, how your wrist needs to be flat, how your wrist needs to do this that and the other thing. And then lag, the bane of all golfers trying to get that appearance of Sergio's arms on the downswing in the 2-dimensional photo forgetting he's really in a 3-dimensional world. And remember, you're swinging a club, not hitting a ball.

You need to be aware of where the club head is. The ball is just in the way of the club head.

So I'll leave you with a video you can watch. Nothing much has really changed. Notice how relaxed he is. Notice how he's just swinging the club. The longest driver on the PGA tour (Bubba) swings a lot like this.

InTheRough said:

Well there are a lot of books and a lot of videos. There's a lot of crap about angles, about this X-factor, about keeping your left foot planted and turning your shoulders while your hips only turn a little bit (a great way to hurt your back), all this crap about how the takeaway has to be just right, how your wrist needs to be flat, how your wrist needs to do this that and the other thing. And then lag, the bane of all golfers trying to get that appearance of Sergio's arms on the downswing in the 2-dimensional photo forgetting he's really in a 3-dimensional world. And remember, you're swinging a club, not hitting a ball.

You need to be aware of where the club head is. The ball is just in the way of the club head.

So I'll leave you with a video you can watch. Nothing much has really changed. Notice how relaxed he is. Notice how he's just swinging the club. The longest driver on the PGA tour (Bubba) swings a lot like this.

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For us recreational golfers , there is a lot to admire and maybe copy from Bobby Jones swing.

Some say the reason he had such a languid relaxed swing is due to the fact in those hickory shaft days, if he attempted to stress the shaft with the same techniques used by today's pros, it would snap (he is using a natural release with very little lateral flexion which is probably better for the spine).

If you look at the modern day PGA Pro, the advent of steel and graphite means they can stress the shaft earlier in the 'backswing/transition/early downswing' . They use different biomechanics to create a straighter hand path in the early-mid downswing (such as adducting their bent right arm, pitch elbow over their hip, lateral flexion) before their hand path 'turns the corner' to evoke CF forces and create clubhead speeds way greater than the swings of the 1930's. The reason they can do it now is 'because they can' even though it might end up bad for their backs in the long term.

I know that I cannot mimic the biomechanics of modern day PGA pros without doing some damage to myself and I'd prefer to use Bobby Jones swing to keep my golfing longevity.

Everyone has said it and I will beat that horse. Invest time into finding a good instructor. I struggle with consistency in yardage and dispersion. Went to a phenomenal instructor teamed with Miles of Golf here in Cinci. He had me hit some with a 9-iron and within twenty minutes had adjusted my posture, and I was landing balls what felt like almost on top of each other compared to what I was. He would not even talk golf unless it was about my swing. All business and it was great. Shop around for an instructor. I am largely self taught but I honestly would have never thought to make the adjustment he did because of what I had read about "knee flex" in so many other sources.

Also, I keep a notebook in my bag. I take notes after every range session and round. I will be taking more notes during and after lessons. In the cover I have checklists and troubleshooting points. In case I am having issues. Bring me back to the basics.

More dead horse beating here as well.

I resisted lessons for a loooooong time. It was a foolish decision. I was athletic when I started playing, and believed I could figure it out on my own. I thought I was doing OK at first, but I never got much better. Over time, I just started to accept that, "eh, I'm just not very good at this game." Fast forward 25 years, and my Wife decided she wanted to learn to play. I taught her the basics - as I understood them - and she liked it, so much that she wanted to take lessons. So, we took lessons together. Wow, what a difference that made. Someone was able to figure out in just 6 weeks all the things I had been doing wrong for 25 years, all the things that had been holding me back from improvement. I still suck (because I just don't play enough), but that knowledge gained from examination and advice from a pro has shaved about 10 strokes off my game.

Hello again all, so it’s been a few weeks since my posts and I’ve been out and about playing golf.


Thought I’d see where I am again, as I hadn’t really played consistently for about 8 months! Played a round at a very tricky and long course just over a week ago and scored 107, with several pars... and therefore several duffed holes also!! I’ve also been to the driving range a few times since and have found the same old frustrations arising. The one day at the range I felt I was solving some issues and was striking the ball clean, with the distance improving... 3 days later and I can hardly hit the ball consistently again!!!


I haven’t had any lessons yet.... after this week I’m thinking this is definitely the next step!!!

I started playing golf early 2000's off and on for 4 years. played 10-25 rounds each of those years. i was terrible. never took a lesson, watch instructional videos, etc. . it was more of a social thing for me. never was serious about getting better. fast forward to 2019. I started playing again. this time i was focus on become a better player. I thought to myself, how did i become a better tennis player? it was simple...I just played a lot. so thats the approach ive been using. im playing at least 2 times a week. sometimes 3 or 4. gradually i started making cleaner contact with the ball and understanding the distance of each club that i hit. sure i still have WTF rounds but i can say this is the best golf ive ever played.

Bizzle87 said:

Hello again all, so it’s been a few weeks since my posts and I’ve been out and about playing golf.


Thought I’d see where I am again, as I hadn’t really played consistently for about 8 months! Played a round at a very tricky and long course just over a week ago and scored 107, with several pars... and therefore several duffed holes also!! I’ve also been to the driving range a few times since and have found the same old frustrations arising. The one day at the range I felt I was solving some issues and was striking the ball clean, with the distance improving... 3 days later and I can hardly hit the ball consistently again!!!


I haven’t had any lessons yet.... after this week I’m thinking this is definitely the next step!!!

Click to expand...

I'm going through the same thing. Finally broke down and got a lesson 2 weeks ago. The reason I was so inconsistent is because I didn't have a swing . I had bits and pieces that would magically work together one day, and be horrible the next. I tried to "dig it out of the dirt" as they say, but I couldn't do it. Some people can. I tried playing a lot. I played 3 times a week. That didn't work either. It just made me focus on score more and get more frustrated. The lesson I had has been helpful so far.

I've never taken a lesson in my life and learned everything through books/videos , etc . When I first started , all I tried to do was mimic what I saw golfers do on TV and then hit hundreds of balls until it became ingrained. I won a few friendly society tournaments but then decided I wanted to improve and bought Leadbetter videos/books (which I probably interpreted incorrectly) and this ruined my game (nearly gave up). I then, by luck , found the free Leslie King golf instruction (link below) whose concepts were completely opposite to Leadbetter and my swing improved enough to get me around the golf course without embarrassing myself.

https://golftoday.co.uk/leslie-king-tuition-series-introduction-masterpost/

Over the years , the Leslie King swing concept was all I used but it just didn't feel consistent enough and I still had that urge to improve , so I started looking at the hundreds of Shawn Clement videos. I had 'hit and miss' success with SC's concepts because I failed to grasp and practice 'external focus' and was still stuck between 'internal focus' concepts regarding biomechanics (ie. what each part of the body did and where it should be in space, etc ). I also had zero understanding of the physics of the golf swing which was a failure on my part because I actually studied physics to degree level - Lol!!!

So this is how it went for a few years , back and forth , experimenting with this , learning bits and pieces , tips from various people , internet , books, videos , etc, etc. The more I read , the more confused and irritated I became because I found contradictions in golf instruction virtually every day leaving me lost and bewildered.

Over the most recent 4 years, I think I've learned a lot about the biomechanics/physics of the golf swing via Phil Cheetham, Sasho MacKenzie, Dr Jeff Mann , The SwingEngineer, Dave Tutelman, Steve Nesbitt. Imho, Dr Mann's website has become my reference to all things relating to biomechanics from a 'qualititative' perspective but he freely admits a weakness in physics. So I've generally learned more about the golf physics from Tutelman/Mackenzie , specifically about what creates clubhead speed using 'quantitative' research data from evolving golf modelling. It's strange that these golf scientists and biomechanic academics still tend to denigrate each other in public which I find rather disappointing , considering we all want to find a way to improve instruction (unsure why they won't work together in a friendly manner).

But even with all this new knowledge about the golf swing, I have improved 'without doubt' by embracing and practicing Shawn Clement and Gabrielle Wulf's concepts about 'external focus'.

I played my 2nd game since last Sept 2018 on a difficult golf course (Essendon in the UK) and hit an 84 , after having been to a range only once in 8 months (could have been a lot better if I'd cleared a pond with my 5-iron). All I did was practice swinging 'perpetually' back and forth and focus on swinging the clubface:

1. To a target
or
2. Over an intermediate point
or
3. Cutting the 'imaginary dandelion stem' under the ball with the bottom edge of my clubface.

You can also practice throwing clubs to a target using each arm, then both arms (Fred Shoemaker advocated throwing clubs). In fact Wild Bill Mehlhorn and Robert Shave were advocating the same many years ago.

Check out these videos: