More lessons or or just accept medicority?

[mddubya]

Ok my golf forum friends, I have a serious question. I have been fairly athletic all my life, played HS football, raced MotoCross, water ski and wakeboard. I've taken 2 rounds of lessons, the 1st being a group setting, the 2nd being three 1 hour private lessons. I play on the average 3 times a week at least, sometimes more. I've been told I have a pretty good looking swing. The video I posted was not a good indication the more I look at it. Anyway, I swear, it seems the more I try to improve, the worse I get. For a while there I was shooting legit mid 80's, one round of 81, on my home par 75 course. Now I'm struggling to break 100, shooting high 90's most of the time, a mid 90 thrown in once in a while by the golfing God's just to keep me coming back.

On the days my driver is working for me, I can get it out there 280-300 yards and straight, to bad those days are becoming fewer and farther between here lately it seems. My main problem is a total lack of any consistency with my irons. I'll hit a couple of shots that do exactly what I'd envisioned, and then I'll top the heck out of the next 2, or $hank one off to the right or yank one so far left it looks like I've never picked up a golf club in my life.

My question is, should I sign up for another round of lessons, or just accept the fact that this is as good as it gets?

[ezra76]

The key is knowing what you are doing wrong and need to fix. If a pro cannot tell you what you are doing wrong, explain it, give you drills and then explain what the proper way should look like, then dump him. Make more videos as well, better quality. I've gotten more out of my own videos and guys analyzing them online than from any lessons I've taken. Beating balls at the range is pointless, for me anyway. I've got the hand-eye coordination to start hitting shots like a scratch golfer, maybe better than some scratch golfers, once my timing is on. Problem is there is no way I can sustain that level of manipulation of the hands over the course of an entire round. I'm trying to simplify. Fundamentals and the same swing every single time.

[Wi-Golfer]

Surely you must know what you are doing wrong? Most of the time when I hit a bad shot it's one of two reasons, either I am standing too far back & hit the ball with the toe of the club, or I pick my head up & end up topping it. I know what I need to do to correct it, it's just committing to it. I know I will never be a great golfer or even a pretty good one, just decent & i'm ok with that. Ugly swing can work just fine with enough practice. Doesn't Furyk have an unconvential swing & yet he seems to do pretty damn well with it.

[mddubya]

I think my problem is spine alignment. It seems like I'm either not bending over far enough and topping it, or maybe raising up? Or I bend over too far and take a divot so deep I can hear Chinamen raising cain, but that is rare.

As far as my driver goes, I have no idea how one day I'm crushing it 280-300 yards and straight, then go out the next day and hit 150-200 yard hooks. All my drivers, and yes I have quite a collection, lol, are closed looking at address. But I've stuck with the HiBore 9.5º Matrix Ozik combo for quite a while now. I'm almost tempted to try a Tour version, or something that is open at address because I'm having more days when I'm hooking all my drives than days of hitting it straight lately.

I hear you Wi, I don't expect to ever make the Champions Tour, ok, I do fantasize about it. But I would like to think I could at least get down to a single digit handicap.

[ezra76]

Furyk just has an ugly takaway, he gets the club in A1 position on the downswing though. I'm not really talking about "what did I do wrong" when a guy hits a $hank, a fat iron that goes 1/2 the distance or a topped fwy. wood. I'm talking more along the lines of "what am I doing wrong" to shoot 96 instead of 73.

[warbirdlover]

I have to write down everything that works for me and what causes specific problems. I keep this in my wallet for when I have a crappy round. Keep at it and find an instructor that won't try to rebuild your swing, just help you make it work. There's a huge difference. You've put up some great scores this year already so there's no reason to panic. Even pro's have peaks and valleys. They just aren't as deep as ours...

Sometimes what appears to be a serious problem is sometimes very simple, like "peeking" and lifting your head or just plane moving your head, slight grip change, not finishing the swing (following through), Elvis legs (sometimes called "dancing feet" ) or a change in stance ("reaching" for the ball). Stuff like that.

[West Coast Duffer]

Ive just started taking lessons myself and so far so good but I have been asking tons of questions, the instructor is pretty cool and this past week he had some time after my lesson and he was hitting some balls and letting me ask him questions after that off the clock hahaha but its great to finally figure out what im doing wrong.

[Sandpiper3]

Never settle for mediocrity!!! Always strive to be the best you can be.

Personally the day I feel I cant get any better i'll probly stop golfing.

[mddubya]

Originally Posted by Sandpiper3

Never settle for mediocrity!!! Always strive to be the best you can be.

Personally the day I feel I cant get any better i'll probly stop golfing.

Don't worry, I never settle. I'm going to write down everything I think I'm doing wrong, and what I know is happening and take another round of lessons.

[swingsmooth]

Originally Posted by mddubya

My question is, should I sign up for another round of lessons, or just accept the fact that this is as good as it gets?

You already know this is NOT as good as it gets. The cool thing about golf is there's always room for improvement. Just get back to fundamentals and a good preshot routine. You and a good teacher can figure out what you're doing wrong from there. Hang in there!!!!

[gpo]

If you really want to improve your game you have to truly analyze the overall big picture and first decide what can you fix first to get the biggest bang for your buck.

Chart a few rounds.

1. Drives that give you a decent approach shot.
2. Approaches from 100-150 how many on the green
3. Approaches from 150-200 how many on the green
4. How many times you get a chip within 8 feet
5. How you do on putts over 20 feet
6. How you do on putts 10-20 feet
7. How you do on putts 5-10 feet
8. How you don on putts 0-5 feet

I would be willing to bet you can reduce your short game strokes.

The best way to break 90 is strive for bogey golf. Forget about par. Consistency is the key. Off the tee you should hit whatever will get you in the fairway most often with a min distance of 185. Then play smart golf from there. If you come along a long par 4 and hit it 200 off the tee and have like 230-240 left. Take out whateve club you feel comfortable with that will go like min 150. Don't be a hero and try to hit something 200 off the deck. Then if you are chipping and putting well you will break 90 plenty of times. The key is to keep yourself out of trouble.

Now if you want to break 80 then you have to start hitting a driver min 230 and hit a lot of greens.

[SiberianDVM]

New clubs.

You need them.

You know you want them.

Just ho it.

[mddubya]

Originally Posted by SiberianDVM

New clubs.

You need them.

You know you want them.

Just ho it.

Not the answer I was looking for, do you work for MasterCard or something?

that having been said, check out my new thread under equipment reviews,

[Highfly]

I am in a similar position to you..

I ve just started taking lessons and hit in the 80's first time in nearly a year.

Yes definately sign up for the lessons


As far as chunkin the ground I was doing that too, it has gotten better since flattening out my swing a bit.

Lessons margin for error.

[BrandonM7]

Originally Posted by mddubya

On the days my driver is working for me, I can get it out there 280-300 yards and straight, to bad those days are becoming fewer and farther between here lately it seems. My main problem is a total lack of any consistency with my irons. I'll hit a couple of shots that do exactly what I'd envisioned, and then I'll top the heck out of the next 2, or $hank one off to the right or yank one so far left it looks like I've never picked up a golf club in my life.

That's me right there, albeit with different distances. When it happens to me it can be any number of things - rushing the swing from the top down instead of bottom up, alligator arms, standing up, squatting down, who knows what else. But it all stems from one thing - trying to knock the piss out of the ball. When I can convince myself to take it easy and try to swing at what feels like 75% effort (all of it - 75% speed of take away, 75% length of backswing, 75% effort of downswing) everything jives right back into place.

That's the most frequent tip I've seen from touring pros in interviews and such - take an extra club and swing a little easier. It's just easier for my body to get all of the mechanics correct, because when my mind says "KILL IT!" too many parts of my body try to take over and kill it, and they end up doing something wrong. It's mighty hard to make myself do it, though. May not help you any, and you may have already tried it a million times. Just thought I'd mention it.