One step forward ten back

You have all read the thread and that is my game. In practice I play well , come medal day and this season in particular everything goes pete tong.
I play/ practice 5 days a week, but come medal day yes you got it , I play like a bum.
Why do people who cannot swing a club right and play twice a week out do me? I am at a loss.Good look to them.I wish them well.
I am at the point where I am thinking why practice so much and get nothing when maybe I should just play one or twice a week.
All I am after is to improve but I seem to get nothing from all the hard work I put into the game.At times I just think what is the point. This game is costing me alot of money and time, and I gain no reward for all the effort.
I welcome any advice.
Thanks.

I hear and recognise your cry sir.

I have had two such durations so far in my golfing life.

Number one was about 4 years ago when I was practicing like mad on all aspects of the game. At the time my home course was a par 70 and I was playing from a handicap of 16.

It is no exaggeration to state that I shot 11 competition rounds in a row of +16. It didn't seem to matter how the round panned out. Good starts, bad middles, good finishes, and any combination thereof. I couldn't break the barrier. And, like yourself, I noticed those who just played at the weekends and practiced maybe once a week were getting far more from their games than I when it "mattered". I was not a happy camper.

The second is one that I'm hopefully coming out of now. My last competitive rounds have seen me blitz my current handicap of 5 and I feel like I'm now going in the right direction again. I would say that these periods of "I've got it, no I haven't, yes I have, no I really haven't" have claimed at least 3 years worth of my 6 years of playing seriously. And I fully expect to go through it again. And I accept that. To me, I've learned that's important. Tiger always says it's about loving the process of improvement. Trophies come and go, but you can always strive to improve, and learn to love it.

Having said that, you'll notice that in 6 years I've gone from a 16 handicap to 5, and still going down. And I've felt like you do now on many occasions, sometimes for months on end. So I'll talk about my two favourite "p" words.

You may have begun an interesting thread as there are so many combinations of things that lead to tangible improvement. Not least of which is perciverence. But also another favourite "p" word I like to keep in mind is perspective.

We love this game. Possibly like no other sportspeople love their respective games. And so we play. If we look up "play" in a dictionary, the main ideas of the definition are summed up as; "exercise or activity for amusement or recreation" or even "to do something in sport that is not to be taken seriously".

The guys that turn up on the course that are the same guys you never see on the range or on the practice green, but seem to get more from their games than you, are the guys that are "playing" instinctively.

Yes, they play the same physical game we do, and yes they wish to be better, but they also understand that being better in golf sometimes means cutting yourself some slack and enjoying the experience, whatever it brings.

It sounds to me as though you're in a place I throughly understand. I'm very happy to tell you that one day, you'll exceed almost all your expectations in one go. And I can say with a fair amount of certainty that it'll come when you least expect it. You'll feel like you didn't try. You'll tot up the score at the end and be astounded at your accomplishment.

All of a sudden the work and time you've put in to this game will be let out in a torrent and you'll wonder where it came from. I'll tell you where it came from. It came from you, but only because you let it.

Play on sir.

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Luke: I don't believe it!
Yoda: That is why you fail.

Thank you Neil for replying to the thread. You are so right in what you say. Words of wisdom.

Cheers Bogeygolfer.

First: What a great reply from Neil.

If practice is not focused at the right things it will not improve anything, it may well ingrain faults that either stunt your progress or even make your game worse.

I would also suggest from your posts you think too much when playing competitively. Your only thoughts on the course should be club selection, course management and enjoying the day, maybe these people you mention are doing just that. Swing fixing is for the range, leave it there.

As I have mentioned before you must learn to play when adrenaline is coursing through you, it tightens your grip and muscles which can introduce a heave ho swing. have you read any of the Bob Rotella books, they may help.

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Best Regards
Brian

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Funny o'l game!

Once again cheers guys, all your advice has been gratefully appreciated. A great video.

Thanks.