Where I stand

As this summer comes to an end, I'm surveying my golf game and thinking about what to do next. This is my third season playing golf, but really only the 2nd season playing regularly. The guys I play with are all hackers who play around 100. I am considerably worse than them, scoring 120 pretty consistently. I've shot a few lower rounds, but not many. I've birdied one hole, ever.

Anyway, the guys I play with just show up and golf. They don't take lessons; they don't hit balls at the driving range. I didn't used to do those things either, but this year I thought I'd try to improve at least to their level, so I've taken lessons and hit 1000s and 1000s of balls at the range. My score hasn't changed. I've had the experience twice this summer of being beaten by people who never played before. I'm that bad.

I've learned a lot about golf, and I have a pretty good idea what I do wrong. I sometimes make wonderful shots, in fact. And I occasionally have a pretty good round (by my standards) but the plain truth is that these are deviations from the norm.

Any sport takes a modicum of talent, I think, and I have to face the possibility that I just don't have any. I know that most people in my position would've given up the game by now. I'm not considering giving up golf. I still enjoy playing, and I can get a laugh out of some of my predicaments on the course. But I AM considering whether I should give up any pretense of trying to improve. The lessons, buckets of balls, etc... I have to wonder whether I'm sabotaging my ability to enjoy golf by cultivating expectations that I can't fulfill.

__________________
Todd
Philadelphia, PA
USA

The reason the pro tells you to keep your head down is so you can't see him laughing. ~Phyllis Diller

Dear Ubizmo,

I hate to say it, but in order to improve, it takes good old HARD WORK. It doesn't just come by pounding buckets and buckets of balls on the driving range. With no purpose or logic all you are doing is reinforcing bad swing habits that way.

If you want to improve you can, it's a fact!! Ben Hogan said anyone who puts in the time and effort can easily play in the 80's in six months. I think that is a little unrealistic but you can certainly improve, if you have the moxie in you!

Make no mistake though, it takes HARD WORK.

Here are a few of my suggestions:

• Read some of the best instruction books written on golf, such as Ben Hogan's Five lessons, Harvey Penicks little Red Book, Jim Flick's On Golf, Books by David Leadbetter are good too.
• Take these lessons to the range and practice the drills and techniques they recommend. Don't hit ONE BALL without some purpose or reason behind it.
• Watch the golf Channel. They have oodles of good lessons that you can learn from
• Get into diagnosing your own swing. Don't think you can't do it, that is how you learn. Take a video camera and video tape your swing. Then compare it to touring professionals and you can really learn a lot from it.
• Practice like a virtual MADMAN on the shortgame. Work on your chipping, putting and pitch shots. This will impact your score and your game more than anything else you can do, INCLUDING hitting buckets of balls.
• Work on hitting shots with only a 1/2 swing using 7,8 and 9 irons. This will groove a much smoother swing.

There are many more things that would help but you have to have a plan and dedication. If you follow these suggestions YOU WILL IMPROVE. Get that short game going and you will be kicking your buddies butts and winning lots of $$$$$$. They will want to know what happened to you.

So, GET GOING!!! TIme is wasting.

Best of luck. It is a great game an worth the effort you will be putting into it. When you start hitting them long shots with a smooth effortless, swing, the feeling is one of euphoria!!!!

Best wishes,

Chessbum.....

I don't want to give the impression that my sessions at the driving range are haphazard; they're not. Often I take just 1 or 2 clubs and work on those exclusively. I usually have a specific thing I want to work on--backswing, grip, whatever--maybe something from my lessons. Sometimes I bring a notebook and log every stroke, what I did and what happened. I've videotaped my swing 5 times now, and I'm getting pretty good at spotting the problems. I've learned a lot about the golf swing! But even seeing my head bobbing around doesn't help me to keep it still...

I have some of the books you mentioned, and a few that you didn't, such as Newell's Golf Instruction Book, and Ernie Els's How to Build a Classic Golf Swing.

It's funny you mention the short game. My chipping and lobbing are probably better than my friends', and my putting is no worse. The problem is, it takes me 5-6 strokes to get to where I can chip!

Often I'll go to the driving range and practice and, after 10 or so balls, things may start to click and I start striking the ball well. But it's as if I have only short-term muscle memory; the next time I go, I'm back at square one.

Well, I'll just keep on keeping on. I think I'm as addicted to working on my swing as I am to the game itself. Thanks for the comments.

__________________
Todd
Philadelphia, PA
USA

The reason the pro tells you to keep your head down is so you can't see him laughing. ~Phyllis Diller

Hi Todd,

It sounds as though you are trying hard to improve. It also sounds like you are heading in the right direction. I still think that you are missing the point on the short game when you say "I chip and putt as well as they do". You should strive to get very close to the hole everytime and be close enough to avoid any three putts. Do you keep track of them? Do you know how many putts you take every round? If you don't how do you know if you are improving or not?

As far as the swing problems, I think there are helpful Drills that will help you feel what a good swing should feel like.

In the book by Jim Flick "On Golf" he lists specifically 10 drills that he thinks are key in helping improve your swing, the very thing you are troubled about. What I am suggesting, is take these driills and work on them at the range. They help you develop the feel and muscle memory that you are seeking. Another source I think is fantastic is Greg Willis's site. He lists several drills that I personally have found VERY EFFECTIVE. I personally recommend you learn his "Right Hand Drill". It has already made a postive influence on my swing. It is a great drill!!!

Also, much golf literature is based on Ben Hogan's Five Fundamentals. Sometimes it pays to go thorugh each section and see how your swing compares to it. Granted, some of Hogan's thoughts are slightly outdated by todays standards, but for the most part it is one of the most valued and referred manuals even today.

FInally, I will recommend one more aid that I think is valuable. V1 Golf sells a piece of software that is really nice for analyzing your swing. I use it all the time. It has tons of tools that help you. After you have your swing video taped, it walks you through by asking you specific questions about your problems and then offers specific drillls for you to work on. It is a great tool that also offers split screen and all to look at your swing in detail. You might want to look at it:

http://www.v1golf.com/consumer/default.asp

I have it and I like it.

Don't get me wrong, I am not an instructor but I do know that hard work will improve your game. I work on my game everyday. I am 57 and take it seriously. Improvement does not come easy. For me nothing is tougher than lowering your handicap even one point. That is what the game is all about.

I hope these suggestions help. I am only trying to pass some of the experiences I have had along, hoping it might help someone. Take it for what it is worth and chuck the rest.

Good luck and remember, hit'em long and straight.....

Chessbum....

I do keep track of 3-putts, and I'd say I average about 6 or 7 per round. As I said, my chipping isn't too bad, and I'm pretty good at the flop shot with the lob wedge. I don't mean to imply there's no room for improvement, but that's not where my game is most in trouble. But I take your point--that's 6 or 7 strokes right there that I should be able to knock off my score, just by not 3-putting.

I'll look for the Jim Flick book; haven't seen that one. I do some form of practice every day. If nothing else, I go out in my backyard and make practice swings, just to work on backswing, rhythm, and follow-through.

I've used Greg Willis's right-hand drill and his impact drill. As I see it, the right-hand drill is essentially a chip shot with the club "hooded." Because this swing has, as Greg says, "ungodly accuracy," I sometimes use it in actual play. The exaggerated cupped right wrist de-lofts the club somewhat, so if I'm, say, 25 yards off the green, I'll do the right-hand drill with the lob wedge and pop it right at the pin. I haven't seen any effect of the right-hand drill on my full swing yet. Maybe it just takes time.

I have to say, it's maddening to go to the driving range and work on my swing, and by the time I get to the end of the bucket, I feel like I've learned something--then then next time I'm at the range or at the course, it's gone. It's as if the last session never happened. Do others have this experience?

I guess where I stand is...in need of a lot more work!

__________________
Todd
Philadelphia, PA
USA

The reason the pro tells you to keep your head down is so you can't see him laughing. ~Phyllis Diller

Great site!

Hi again,

Start golf by learning to putt, master that and you will be master of all.

A great read I would suggest is this book.

Putting Out of Your Mind. by Dr. Bob Rotella

Read by most pro's and amateurs alike.

If you can make the long putt from time to time chipping is then easy. Less pressure, because you have the confidence of putting. If you can chip well you can then afford to attack the greens, knowing that if you miss you can get it up and down.

So practice from the hole back to the tee and not the other way round.

UBIZMO !
I do keep track of 3-putts, and I'd say I average about 6 or 7 per round.

As far as Jack Nicholas is concerned he has never 3 putt in his life!
I tend to agree with his philosophy, so put the 3 putt out of your mind ok..