Novice golfer has a sudden surge !

Well


I am a novice golfer, only tried golf for the first time in April, and was hooked after one session on the driving range ( even though I was hopeless and even managed to hit my buddy in the booth next to me !! )
I have only ever played on the range and on my local club's 9 hole practice course, which is just a large field on a slope with the fairways etc cut into it, so its nice and isolated and I don't feel such a fool in front of the "proper" golfers.
When I first did this course ( total distance is about 1300 yds ) it took me about 70 shots and I spent more time looking for the ball in the rough than actually hitting the ball ( that is when I wasn't swinging and missing )
Through tips on this site and various people's opinions I slowly started to improve down to 60+ then 55 but all the while I found it very very hard to remember all the tips and the exertion on my body made me ache for the rest of the day.
Decided a few weeks ago to take a week-long vacation from work and spent this time on the golf course alone to try to improve just a little without anyone rushing me or me feeling rushed just because I was playing with others.
Well. alone and taking my time, reducing the whole body exertion, using the wrists more, changing my grip, changing how I swing so that the club stays sort of in front of me and not around my back made the club head travel much much faster that I got the "whoosh" noise of a fast swing and the more upright stance allowed me to control my club head more during contact with the ball.
Scores went down to about 48 then through the week down to 41 and I found it so much easier ( still takes me ages to find my ball in the rough though, oh well )
During the week I checked out the actual distances of each hole and got an idea on most holes what the best club to use was, and also what kind of tee so that I could repeat the improvement when I next played. ( fyi I use brush tees for irons and wooden for drivers )
All was going swimmingly until I decided to play again this weekend.
Lined up my shot on the 1st ( 125yds slight downhill ) and in the past I had used a 6 iron because that seemed to get me the correct distance. ( First ever game I used a 1 wood and only got half way towards the hole and way left )
Picked up my trusty 6 iron this time and swung in my new more controlled way with super club speed etc.. and the ball went straight towards the flag.. yippee.... and I wondered.. is this gonna land on the green with just a few feet to spare. and I wondered and wondered and wondered.. I had a long time to wonder because the ball want over the edge of the green, over the flag,, over the back of the green and sailed right into the hedges at the back of the field, I am guessing about 175 yds away with only one bounce just before the hedge.
And on 7 of the nine holes i had to re-evaluate all my clubs... one hole was a 6 iron previous and this time I had to use a 9 iron and still nearly overshot the hole, just finishing slighty left and level with the back of the green.
How come I can play fairly well for a week, playing several times that week and be consistent with the length of my shots, only now for my shots to suddenly seem much better than a total novice and have some great distance, and even some excellent directions too, most heading straight to the green or even right towards the flag?
Have I suddenly morphed into a different player or is it normal for a novice to suddenly get the "knack" of doing a good strong / straight tee shot after enough practice without any noticable steps in improvements beforehand?.

Because you have worked hard on your game you are now getting back what you put in.

Plus, the ball does go alot further in this HOT WEATHER because it rolls further and travels further through the air.

But remember you are going to get bad spells and bad days in this game, so when I bad time comes remember to dig in hard and you will see the light at the end of the tunnel again.

Cya
Rick

Hi Rick,
Thanks for the reply and words of encouragment.
I fully expect when I next play a round with my buddy from work that I will be terrible, but I will enjoy it all the same

When you mentioned the extra distance, I understand it will travel on the ground further, much further, but how much further does it go in the air due to hot weather? Is it like 10% more on a hot day compared to a more moderate day or much much higher?
Perhaps I will never learn what distance my clubs will play if I need a degree in metorology first??? because that is one thing I have struggled with, guessing which club to use.
Its bad enough trying to hit the ball when I have an off day without hitting it well and it travelling much much too far .

Dave

Hi davy
you seem to be on the right tracks but it's true what ricky says, you will have bad days, followed by some awful days, but i can tell by reading your thread that you have enough love for this wonderful game to carry you through a 1000 bad days.
good luck and remeber , there are always people here to help you.
cheers

All I have to say is .......WELCOME TO THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF GOLF!!!

with all due respect, if you expect that then that is what will happen.
good luck in the search,
neil

The best round I've ever had, I had zero expectations on how I was going to play (conversely, the least fun I've had is when I had large expectations, and failed to meet them).

It seems that the improvement came with the more relaxed mental approach. Now that you have the swing mechanics, club selection and technical stuff under control, try focussing on the mental aspect.
You are on the right track for even further improvement and maybe you will even like to try more challenging courses in the near future.

ok

Back to 9 hole course today
Shot a 48, not as good as previous but to be honest the greens were so baked it was almost impossible to 2 putt on the holes.
However my tee shots and short game were still good so hopefully the general improvement is a long term thing and my confidence remains good so.. happy swinging everyone !