Realistic Improvement

My biggest jump came in HS when I was on the team and had a lot of dedicated practice time. Rounds in the 70s came a bit more frequently then, with most hanging around 82. Since then I've just kind of hung onto it and have settled around 86 with the occasional awful and less occasional exceptional round.

I don't know how much you play or practice, but other than lessons, and maybe getting fitted for some clubs that fit your game, there isn't much that can replace just a lot of time on the course and range.

One of my strategies will also be to putt a shite ton when I practice. I feel like that gets overlooked by a lot of weekend hacks like us, but there are probably a handful of strokes hiding on the greens in our rounds.

I've only been playing a few years and I was 23.5 when the year started. Had fun shooting in the high 90s but decided I could be way better than that. Started taking lessons in Mid-February (haven't had that many because of Covid) but I went to the range almost every morning and kept a journal to work on what my coach told me as well as I what I was seeing in my practice sessions and rounds.

I shot down to a 12 within a couple of months and then got down into single digits, but would say I am more like an 10 or 11 right now even though my index is still in the single digits. I still have room for a lot of improvement especially in the short game, but have shot 79 3 times this year and I wasn't sure I could ever do that.

Lessons work with a good teacher, but to implement the changes it needs to be a daily habit. A little practice every day is better than 1 or 2 long practice sessions a week especially when trying to change motor patterns. Not everyone has the time to go to the range every day but there are drills you can do at home.

It definitely elevated my enjoyment of golf.

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I've only been playing a few years and I was 23.5 when the year started. Had fun shooting in the high 90s but decided I could be way better than that. Started taking lessons in Mid-February (haven't had that many because of Covid) but I went to the range almost every morning and kept a journal to work on what my coach told me as well as I what I was seeing in my practice sessions and rounds.

I shot down to a 12 within a couple of months and then got down into single digits, but would say I am more like an 10 or 11 right now even though my index is still in the single digits. I still have room for a lot of improvement especially in the short game, but have shot 79 3 times this year and I wasn't sure I could ever do that.

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That's fricking awesome, man. Great job.

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esides good and regular practice, the two things that I think will drive your scores down are 1. playing with good players a lot and 2. playing in some real competition. #1 allows you to see how good players go about things and sub-consciously elevates the bar at which you compare yourself against other players and #2 really exposes where the holes are in your game more so than just about anything else.

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Number two is a goal. However at the point in time anytime I am setting up for a shot more than 100 yards I really have no clue where it is going to go. I always make good contact but have little control with left, center or right and distance. Sometimes a 7 iron is 125 sometimes it’s 155. As such I still have a long way to go with consistency. Funny thing is I play with a guy that is leaps and bounds better than me in the long game but i consistently win our bets because of my short game. Poor guy can hit a 7 iron 160 yards perfectly every time but you put a wedge in his hands and he’s a retard chunking the ball all over the green. I’d pay a lot of money for his long game and he would for my short game.

My two biggest jumps

1. Working at u club and playing every day in college. I went from 100s to 90s

2. 2015 summer playing 9 everyday after work cause I had noting to do and lived in BFE


Prior 2015, I mostly hit 3 wood or 4 iron off the t. I was really short but learned to hit irons pretty well because of this. It was like playing double bogey golf at u club since it's so long on a few holes

In 2015, I watched a million videos on hittin drivers and went to the range a ton. Now it's the club I am the most comfortable with. I still top out in the mid 80s cause I don't play much but that was a pipe dream before I could trust my driver

I had only ever played once or twice a year before this year but the wife and I moved to a new town and I decided to join the club to meet people. Wife bought me some clubs for Father's Day and I decided I wanted to try and actually play rather than ride around and get drunk.

I played literally every single day from May until the end of July and got down to 85-86 but have stalled out there. I'm going to take a lesson in the new year and see if that helps me at all, and I'd like to eventually get fitted for clubs.

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I don't know how much you play or practice, but other than lessons, and maybe getting fitted for some clubs that fit your game, there isn't much that can replace just a lot of time on the course and range.

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I have plenty of time to practice as I have a net at home but I struggle with what to practice. Since i've started taking lessons i've had about 5 different swings and have information overload ( try to follow only one online training program, athletic motion golf). Also taking what I practice to the course has yet to happen. I can sit on the range and hit 75 perfect 8 irons with my coach and then get to the course and look like i've never played golf. Really is frustrating.

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I have plenty of time to practice as I have a net at home but I struggle with what to practice. Since i've started taking lessons i've had about 5 different swings and have information overload ( try to follow only one online training program, athletic motion golf). Also taking what I practice to the course has yet to happen. I can sit on the range and hit 75 perfect 8 irons with my coach and then get to the course and look like i've never played golf. Really is frustrating.

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Take notes from your lessons and after your practice sessions:
- Swing thoughts
- Technique being worked on
- Miss tendencies
- General observations

On the information overload thing, I personally can't operate with any more than 3 swing thoughts when I am practicing. For example, right now I am really working on flattening my driver swing, so it's 1) hands low and inside on downswing 2) keep the lower body turning and 3) tempo at the top. You'll get various opinions on having swing thoughts actually on the course, but I have to have one - and only one - to play well and have been like that since I was about 12 years old.

Also wouldn't hurt to film yourself both in a practice session with a coach and compare it to a home practice session.

I've been playing golf for 25 years, and in 2020 I've shot my 3 lowest scores ever. I can't attribute that to anything other than the fact that I've played more this year than in any other year. I don't "practice" that often, in terms of a dedicated plan of hitting balls at the range. I do try to putt on a mat at home daily and hit some foam balls in the backyard. I also make it a point to go chip and putt once or twice a week during my lunch hour.

I think the improvement in golf equipment (both clubs and balls) has helped. I hit the ball further today at age 44 than I did when I was younger. I think my putting has been pretty good for most of my golfing career, but I haven't seen dramatic improvements (or gotten worse) in that area. But golf is so much easier when you hit shorter clubs into holes.

Current index is 6.9, and most of my rounds are spent within a few shots either side of 80, but I can flirt with even par or shoot an 87 depending on my swing that day.

Golf is hard, and some days you have it and some days you don't. Enjoy the good days, because it's few and far between when everything comes together, and don't sweat it on those days that nothing is working. Dustin Johnson is #1 in the world and just won the Masters. He shot 80-80 to miss the cut at Memorial in his first start after winning the Traveler's a couple weeks earlier. Shot 78 and WD the next week. Now he looks unbeatable.

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To be honest i'm worried less about my score and more about consistency. I'd love to get to the point where I step up to the ball and have a realistic idea of where it was going to go plus on minus a few yards short or long or left or right. Just developing a consistent repeatable swing is the goal.

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I will say that I've found I'm more consistent now because I don't cram swing thoughts in my brain. My only thoughts for every swing are 1) light grip pressure and 2) get my right side through. Whatever your swing thoughts are, my suggestion is to simplify things. Focus on one or two things that work for you and that's it.