When you were an 'improving' golfer . . .

and you hit the wall of 'failing to improve for a certain period' how did you get yourself through it?

Try not to think about it. Remember to enjoy the game, if you try too hard you'll never improve.

I didn't, got to about 4 at 15. Stayed there until about 18. Stopped playing regularly for around 2-3 years, came back and played a few comps then gave up competetive golf.

Although I no longer maintain a handicap I doubt I have gotten better now a play regularly again. Although I have not practiced properly since I was about 15 so no dount that is where the answer lies.

super_realist wrote:Try not to think about it. Remember to enjoy the game, if you try too hard you'll never improve.

I'm not saying I've hit the wall, yet, but just when I do . . .

Wouldnt know, never really improved that much.

Go back to basics, in my experience, it will be because you've slipped back into bad habits with someting really simple like grip...

Firstly when you hit a wall of any kind take a breather. Walk away for a few days and think about what it means to you to improve. Sometimes being as good as you can be and putting the effort in can be detrimental to other areas of your life as this game can be all consuming, it can also ruin your game if you take the enjoyment out of it.

Then once you figured out what you want from your game, get specific on where needs to be improved, and make sure that anytime spent practising isn't just dead time of ball bashing, just because you are hitting hundreds of balls doesn't mean it will equate to improvement.

So practise smart with goals, make sure you know what you want to achieve from your practise and when achieve it, move the goal posts further away from you..

But in terms of practice, you can beat balls all day but nothing will improve you and your game more than short game practise and good course management, you can knock shots off just using course management alone and further few with a good short game,.

Most of all leave the technical thoughts on range, do not take then to the course, just take the feel for the shot and commit 100% to each shot.

Merc, if you think you've got a wall, then your subconscious will create one.

If for example you are going round and are shooting the lights out 3-4 under, your subcoinscious mind thinks you shouldn't be there because you've decided you have a wall and will contrive to ruin your score by getting you tense and make bad decisions.

Think about it, you've probably birdied every hole on your course over time, probably eagled a few too. Potentially you could shoot in the 50's if everything went right. Basically, you have no wall unless you believe that you do.

Trouble with golf is that you can improve quite a lot in your play but it may not show in your score.

When I used to coach beginners I would get comments like, 'I really don't think I am improving'
I would say ' OK, when did you last miss the ball' and the penny would drop.

The art of playing and the art of scoring are two seperate things to master.

Doon how very profound and true....

Something I often was told by my dad that, just because you hit the ball well doesn't mean you have the right to post a good score....

Led to many hours on the practise ground from ridiculous lies and impossible shots. Many people in the clubhouse took this as me and my brother to be messing around on the practice green when in fact we were just learning how to play from every lie we could imagine and challenging ourselves to get up and down from impossible areas.

Soon proved to be to our benefit and something I still do to this day and I mark as my reason for being able to scramble a score when my long game is abysmal

Yes many times I have came of the course, knowing I had played really well, but it was not reflected on my score card, and that works both ways, knowing I have not played well, but my scorecard shows I had played to my handicap strange.

I would say that hard work is always rewarded, so lots more hours on the practice range, and the rewards will come.

Merc

If you are really serious about the game, I'd suggest that you find a coach that you get on well with and trust. Just keep working away on whatever he advises. If he is any good, your wall will come somewhere around +5

drive4show wrote:Merc

If you are really serious about the game, I'd suggest that you find a coach that you get on well with and trust. Just keep working away on whatever he advises. If he is any good, your wall will come somewhere around +5

D4S that actually opens up an interesting point, how many people actually have swing/short game coaches they goto regularly to tune up their games. Does everyone go back to the same person or do they flit between coaches or simply not goto anyone.

Personally don't have a pro I goto, as i've still got the same swing coach i've had since I was 14, OldMan Mav, he knows my swing inside and out.

However Mavette does have swing/game coach that she goes to regularly, a friend of mine and top teaching pro as I want her to get full enjoyment out of the game and she see's him at least once a month.

Good point Mav, I suspect that most amateurs flit from one coach to another, assuming they even take lessons. I'm sure that loads of people on here have been giving golf lessons as birthday/Xmas pressies, bought by some relative that saw an offer in the local rag or whatever.

I'm planning to book some lessons with a local guy this winter, he works with several tour pro's and has a great reputation. If we get on then I intend sticking with him.

Sounds like a good idea D4S, hope it goes well for you.

Maybe the issue is finding someone you work well with, as many Am's do seem to flit from pro to pro. The bit I find astounding is when I see guys taking lessons saying it's not working and go back to what they were doing and getting no improvement. then going off to another pro and doing the same thing over and over again time in time out.

Cheers Mav, I've decided that I need to get lower as 5 is the worst handicap in golf. It makes you think you can enter all the good Cat1 opens but in reality you get balloted out of them all. Once you see those comps, the 18 hole stablefords suddenly don't seem so appealling

Oldparwin.
That's the story of my life.

The difference between me playing great and playing awful [when I could play] was always about 3 shots.

Doon

I play what I would think is not very well, but get cut 0.5 of a shot, I then have 3 to 4 good ball striking rounds and my handicap goes up on each one 0.1.

So I am spending an awful lot of time standing still

I think I might have given quite a different answer a couple of months ago. I've spent most of this year trying to bed in changes from a long series of lessons over the winter. I started the year at 6.7 and had a cut in Feb to 6.3 which was at that time my lowest ever. I was full of confidence for the year ahead but tweaks were still being made to get rid of some the the little niggles that would stop me getting to the level of consistency that my pro thought I was capable of. I tried to play through whilst still changing and the result was that I touched 7.6 in July (I had a couple of really low moments, one where I broke my wedge in sheer frustration and another where I'd had a shocking start and where I handed the card I was marking to another player because I was going to walk in - One of my playing partners -bless him was like "you cant quit you're too good to quit". I protested that I really wasn't enjoying golf anymore, it wasn't fun anymore but...I subsequently changed my mind, took a deep breath and had 4 birdies in the last 7 holes. To be honest that was the real turning point. A week or so later I had my first cut in 5 months. I did drift up again to 7.6 but finally blew away all the seasons travails at Carnoustie (of all places) last week and am back on the track of enjoying the game immensely again.

My pro's been great with me to be honest, he's always said I have the capability of going deep into Cat 1 and the biggest problem is not my swing which is now finally getting a lot closer to where it needs to be but rather the 6 inches between my ears.

What turned it round?? A re-read of the Rotella books was a good start...keeping the faith deep down that you can keep improving (although that self belief was shaken close to breaking point a few times). That also covers keeping the faith in your practice as well. In golf, the benefit of practice doesn't usually show straight away but it does come through in time. By analysing your scores you begin to pick up trends on where your weaknesses are, those areas should have extra focus in your practice. Acceptance!! you will hit bad shots, learn to enjoy the challenge of where the bad shot puts you rather than bemoan your bad luck or poor execution for being there. Just play for enjoyment and without fear or stupidity...at the end of the day...Its a GAME and many never get the chances we do to enjoy it, so above all enjoy and accept what unfolds.

Hi Jas.
As I said to Deadly the other day when he hit a poor shot into a bunker and started sulking.
'You may have hit a great shot onto the green and three putted..... or....... you may hole the bunker shot.'

Golf is a state of mind. Arnie used to say 'if you can hit it you can hole it'.

Exactly Doon...the difference between a 70 and a 90 has much less to do with the variations in the swing and the putting stroke but more in the thought processes of the golfer as he plays the round. I've totally scabbed the ball round in 76 and I've also had rounds where I've struck the ball superbly and shot 86....and that is completely and utterly down to state of mind

Ken Brown was a wonderful example of a guy with poor natural skills but a fantastic ability to get the ball in the hole.
Ewan Murray was the exact opposite.

And that is why they are both comentators.